Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Celebrates Five Year Anniversary In Alabama
1 October 1998
Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Celebrates Five Year Anniversary In Alabama TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Sept. 30 -- Five years ago today, Mercedes-
Benz and the state of Alabama embarked on a journey that would take them
around the world and to the stars. What a Ride!
At an event held at the Mercedes-Benz Visitor Center and Training
Institute today, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) President and CEO
Andreas Renschler cited many important milestones during the last five years
of MBUSI's partnership with the state of Alabama:
- MBUSI has already employed over 1,600 team members, originally
estimated to be 1,500 by the end of the decade
- MBUSI has achieved a production rate of 300 units per day, ahead
of schedule, for a total of over 66,000 M-Classes produced since
the start of production in early 1997.
- Less than a year after its launch, MBUSI announced two production
increases to keep up with the overwhelming worldwide demand.
- MBUSI has invested an additional $40 million and added 100,000 sq. ft.
to increase its production capacity. MBUSI's nine in-state suppliers
have collectively invested an additional $50 million to keep up with
the M-Class demand.
- To further satisfy European demand, Daimler-Benz will assemble up to
30,000 M-Class vehicles in Austria, beginning as early as mid-1999.
- The M-Class has earned over 33 major industry awards
- MBUSI will begin an M-Class factory delivery program before the end of
the year, which will include optional tours of Alabama.
Since the announcement in 1993 that Mercedes-Benz would locate its first
North American passenger vehicle production facility in Tuscaloosa County,
both the state and MBUSI have forged a relationship in which Alabama has
received international recognition for the award winning M-Class produced
here.
"I will never forget the spirit and emotion that I felt on September 30,
1993, when I was in Tuscaloosa to announce our new factory here," said
Professor Juergen Hubbert, Daimler-Benz board member responsible for passenger
cars. "At that time Daimler-Benz and the state of Alabama talked about
partnership -- and now, after five years, we can see how our strong
partnership has resulted in so much success. That success is not ours at
Mercedes-Benz alone. We share the success with the people of Alabama who
joined with us in building a world-class company and world-class vehicle."
At the celebration, which took place this afternoon, state officials,
Mercedes executives, community leaders and the media saw a video retrospective
of the past five years, heard a "state of the business" address by MBUSI
President and CEO Andreas Renschler, and an unveiling of MBUSI's new corporate
citizenship strategy.
The video retrospective was a reflection of the last five years,
including: the site announcement, groundbreaking, plant construction,
production process, Job 1 vehicle coming off the line, plant grand opening,
M-Class launch and much more. The theme of the event was, "We're Five Years
Down The Road. What A Ride!"
During Renschler's remarks, he thanked the state of Alabama for its
partnership and talked about the potential for future developments in
Tuscaloosa, based on the success of the M-Class. More than hundreds of people
were invited to the event and the reception that followed at the Mercedes-Benz
Visitor Center. MBUSI held a similar anniversary program for its 1,600 "team
members" Tuesday afternoon.
"It's hard to believe five years have passed since we decided to come to
Alabama," said Renschler. "The success we have achieved is a testament to the
hard work of our team in Tuscaloosa and Germany, and the partnership we have
fostered with the people of state of Alabama. After all we have achieved in
the past five years, I can say that choosing Alabama was the best decision for
us, and I am really happy to be here."
As part of its newly-created corporate citizenship strategy, MBUSI donated
two M-Class vehicles to the KID ONE TRANSPORT SYSTEM, a non-profit program
helping provide transportation to underprivileged children in Alabama who need
medical attention. MBUSI unveiled a specially detailed M-Class, which will be
the new official KID ONE vehicle.
"Based on the success of the M-Class, the strategic potential of our site
is very strong and the future of MBUSI looks brighter than we could have ever
imagined," added Renschler. "We were created as a learning field for our
parent company to explore innovations that could be transferred to Daimler-
Benz facilities worldwide."
"Today, on the eve of the largest industrial merger in history with
Daimler-Benz and Chrysler, MBUSI has been characterized by media around the
world as a `microcosm of the merger.' Certainly, lessons we have learned
about bringing together Germans and Americans and people with different
experiences throughout the industry can be applied on a larger scale," he
added.
Less than a year after the M-Class went on sale in North America, the
company has announced two production increases to help meet the overwhelming
worldwide demand. The first production increase represents an additional $40
million investment in the Tuscaloosa plant and an additional 100 jobs to
increase production 20 percent annually, from 65,000 units in 1998 to over
80,000 units in 1999. The original plant investment was $300 million for the
facility, and over $700 million for vehicle research and development.
MBUSI also announced it would help satisfy the immediate European demand
by producing up to 30,000 M-Classes annually at the Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant
in Graz, Austria. This plant, which has a 20-year history of making Mercedes-
Benz four-wheel drive vehicles (G-Wagen and 4MATIC E-Class), has the ability
to begin producing M-Classes as early as mid-1999.
This month, MBUSI launched the long-awaited 4.3 liter V8 ML430 in North
America, in addition to the right-hand drive ML320 in the United Kingdom,
Japan, Australia and New Zealand. By combining safety, quality, performance
and comfort of a Mercedes-Benz with SUV versatility and exceptional off-road
capability, the M-Class continues to set a benchmark in the SUV segment.
