Press Release Daimler announces new Mercedes-Benz Cars plant in Brazil

Wolfgang · Oct 1, 2013

Daimler announces new Mercedes-Benz Cars plant in Brazil
Stuttgart/São Paulo, Oct 01, 2013

Local production capacities in Brazil for next-generation C-Class and GLA
Contribution to Mercedes-Benz 2020 growth strategy
Start of Production as early as 2016
Investment of around EUR 170 million
Andreas Renschler: “Brazil is an important future market. With our local production we accept the challenge and take on the competition.”

Daimler expands in Brazil by adding a new facility to the global passenger car production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars. In the future, the next-generation C-Class and the GLA will be produced for the local market in a new assembly plant in Iracemápolis near São Paulo. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff jointly signed the framework contract with Andreas Renschler, Management Board member for Production and Procurement at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans, and Philipp Schiemer, CEO Mercedes-Benz do Brasil & Daimler Latin America, today. According to the current planning, the first vehicles will roll off the line as early as 2016. An investment of around EUR 170 million has been earmarked for expansion planned in the first stage.

Andreas Renschler: “Brazil is an important future market. With our local production we accept the challenge and take on the competition. The new facility stands exemplarily for the expansion of our global production network – we thereby approach our customers even more.” Regarding the strategic importance of the future local production program, Renschler also said: “With the next generation of the C-Class and the GLA, we will be localizing two highly attractive products with top Mercedes quality, for which we see great potential in the Brazilian premium segment.”

“With the local production of cars, Mercedes-Benz stands out as the only company to act in all segments of mobility in Brazil, with cars, trucks, buses and vans”, said Philipp Schiemer, CEO Mercedes-Benz do Brasil. “The proximity of our production footprint in São Paulo and Minas Gerais will also allow us to have a greater integration among plants and exchange possibilities for the employees.”

The foreseen production in the assembly plant should reach up to 20.000 vehicles each year. Around 1.000 new jobs will be created in the new facility. Furthermore, this should develop approximately 3.000 new jobs for suppliers. Daimler's country company Mercedes-Benz do Brasil will soon complete the purchase of land for the future plant premises in Iracemápolis near São Paulo, allowing for the start of the building preparations.

About the global Mercedes-Benz production network

The global production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars includes the German plants in Sindelfingen, Bremen and Rastatt, the Hungarian plant in Kecskemét, the US plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the South African plant in East London and the BBAC (Beijing Benz Automotive Corporation, a joint venture between Daimler and BAIC) production facility in Beijing, China as the main vehicle production facilities. There are also CKD and SKD assembly plants in Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. At all locations, the consistently high quality of every customer vehicle is safeguarded by the global standards of the Mercedes-Benz Production System (MPS).

In addition, there are the locations of the powertrain production network, which include the Untertürkheim Mercedes-Benz plant (the central location in Germany) as well the plants in Berlin and Hamburg, and the subsidiary MDC Power in Kölleda. The international locations include the Romanian subsidiary Star Transmission, and from this year a new engine plant at the BBAC joint venture in Beijing. From 2014, Daimler and Nissan will also start the joint production of four-cylinder gasoline engines based on a Mercedes-Benz design at the Nissan plant in Decherd, Tennessee.

About Mercedes-Benz do Brasil

Daimler is represented in Brazil by its country company Mercedes-Benz do Brasil Ltda., which has operations in the Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services divisions. Daimler AG's plant in São Bernardo do Campo is the largest outside Germany and the only one, in which trucks, bus chassis and assemblies such as engines, transmissions, axles and truck cabs are produced at the same location. Another location is the former passenger car plant at Juiz de Fora, which was also incorporated into the Mercedes-Benz global commercial vehicle production network in 2010 and has been producing the Mercedes-Benz Actros and Accelo light-duty truck for the Latin American market since 2012. Long-standing experience with local production, Mercedes-Benz do Brasil's very good network and its strong position on the Brazilian commercial vehicles market were significant factors in the current decision for the location of the new passenger car assembly plant.

Source: Daimler

Amat46 · Oct 1, 2013

Go Dailmler, things are all well set for Zetsche's 2020 dream, Our dream

Mr. Mercedes · Oct 2, 2013

It's such a shame they simply didn't have the resources to have this extra capacity available now as the wait lists for A-class's and CLA's blow out around the world. The GLA will no doubt achieve similar success, if not even more.

That said, I do not want a preoccupation with being #1 in sales take precedence over product performance and quality just as the company is returning to form.

Merc1 · Oct 2, 2013

Yeah I hope they don't slip up like that again. I expect these A/B/CLA/GLA cars to be just as reliable as the E or S-Class. Mercedes' sales are going to skyrocket now it seems, but the quality must remain. I just can't get over the over 2300 CLAs sold in the 10 days in the U.S. to close out Sept. Unbelievable the buzz this car is getting. People standing in line to test drive it. GLA will do ever better IMO, as it looks better and will likely be market just as heavily next year when it comes here.

M

Wolfgang · Oct 2, 2013

Some pics.

Andreas-Renschler-Dilma-Rousseff-1[3].webp

Andreas-Renschler-Dilma-Rousseff-2[3].webp

Source: Carscoops

Gianclaudio · Oct 3, 2013

I hope that will bring lower prices to our stupidly over priced South American markets, as per Mercosur agreements. I couldn't care less for the A/CLA but the W205 is shaping up so nicely and something I'll like to buy in a couple of years....

Merc1 · Oct 3, 2013

Mercedes' new design theme works best on the S-Class and the GLA hands down IMO. The GLA is going to blow up, but I think at the expense of the GLK, at least initially if the CLA vs C is any indication.

M

Wolfgang · Jul 14, 2015

Daimler confirmed recently the plant is on schedule to open in February 2016, producing the C-class and GLA for the local market.

alexschoen · Jul 14, 2015

As long as it's not ending in the same desaster like the Juiz de Fora adventure in 1999-2005, when they had lofty ambitions that fell apart quickly. Started out with 70 k planned units for the first gen A-Class, but ended up having to use 38% of imported parts, which killed the business case and production ceased in 2005.

Wolfgang · Jul 14, 2015

^ MB promised to do their homework this time to make it viable.

Agreed. MB needs to add production capacity in Brazil or Mexico for tax reasons.
At present they have several smaller car assembly plants in places like Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

MB do Brazil is working on it:

Is manufacturing cars in Brazil part of Mercedes-Benz' plans?
I can tell you with certainty that it is not discarded. However, local production depends not only on the will. We must have a demand to justify the investment required for the production of automobiles. Today, the market for luxury cars in Brazil is only 20 000 units.

But the company has had a production site in Juiz de Fora for the A-Class. Doesn't the scenario look more favorable today?
In fact, the luxury market is growing at a rate three times higher than the overall market, which indicates that there is a great future perspective. But we do not want to repeat the experience of the past to begin with a project and then have to abandon it. Manufacturing is easy, it is difficult to achieve localized production on the scale necessary for the operation to become profitable. Today, we are doing our homework to get it viable.

http://www.istoedinheiro.com.br/noticias/107115_10

Wolfgang · Mar 23, 2016

Plant opening in Iracemápolis:
Mercedes-Benz starts passenger-car production in Brazil

Mercedes-Benz is starting local vehicle production in Brazil with a new plant in Iracemápolis. The site was officially opened in the presence of guests from politics, industry and society. The company invests a total of over BRL 600 million in the new plant creating 600 jobs in the beginning. The first cars to roll off the production line in Iracemápolis are the C-Class Saloon and, from summer 2016, the GLA compact SUV.

Iracemápolis – Mercedes-Benz has started production at its new passenger-car plant in Brazil, thereby extending its worldwide production network as part of the “Mercedes-Benz 2020” growth strategy. The new site at Iracemápolis in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area was officially opened by representatives of Daimler AG at a ceremony attended by guests from politics, industry and society. The first vehicle to roll off the production line was a black C-Class Saloon.

“The opening of the Mercedes-Benz Iracemápolis plant is a further milestone in the development of our flexible and efficient production network.The global production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars comprises 26 locations which are organized in production compounds according to the vehicle architecture. With the local production, we are strengthening our global competitiveness and will be closer to our Brazilian customers and their needs for passenger cars of the premium brand Mercedes-Benz,” says Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.

Strong commitment to Brazil as a key location

Following the production start of the C-Class at the Mercedes-Benz Iracemápolis plant, the GLA compact SUV will also be rolling off the production line beginning this summer. In the first stage, the plant is designed for an annual capacity of 20,000 vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz achieved record unit sales in Brazil in 2015. “We believe in the long-term perspective of the passenger-car market in Brazil,” declares Schäfer. “The plant in Iracemápolis points the way ahead for our medium-sized plants in terms of layout and technology. The plant’s level of automation is significantly lower than in traditional Mercedes-Benz plants. Thereby, we achieve a highly flexible and top-quality production to satisfy local demand.” As part of the global production network, Iracemápolis is connected to all Mercedes-Benz Cars locations around the world, allowing a location-independent access to production data and process management. Every single installation and every robot, for example, can be centrally managed and updated to new software programmes.

Regarding Brazil’s special role in the production network of the company, Philipp Schiemer, President of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil and CEO Latin America, states: “Mercedes-Benz do Brasil has been firmly established here since 1956. The opening of a new assembly plant 60 years later is a strong commitment to this location and rounds off the product spectrum: this move will see Mercedes-Benz locally producing passenger cars in addition to trucks and buses.”

Construction in record time

Mercedes-Benz invests a total of over BRL 600 million in the new passenger-car site creating 600 jobs at the plant. Further jobs are being generated at suppliers and service providers in the region. Just 19 months elapsed between the concept decision and the start of production. “At Mercedes-Benz, we have tried-and-tested standards and factory kits for our passenger-car plants, both for planning and for installations and processes. Their implementation enabled an extremely short construction period and ensured that the plant was up and running quickly. The rapid project success was facilitated by highly capable partners and the dedication of our team,” adds Schäfer.

Qualification within the network

In terms of the recruitment and training of its workforce, the company closely cooperates with SENAI, the Brazilian national service for industrial training. A new Training Centre has been set up in Iracemápolis for this purpose. To support their training, employees were sent to other Mercedes-Benz plants where they were able to familiarise themselves with the production processes and further integrate the new location into the international plant network through personal relations. One of the leading locations here was the sister plant in Pune, India, which likewise produces the C-Class. Some employees also spent several weeks training at the Mercedes-Benz Bremen plant (Germany), the lead plant for the C-Class, and at the Kecskemét plant (Hungary), which produces compact models.

Social commitment in the region

In setting up the plant, the company is also taking account of its social responsibility in the region. In cooperation with local language schools and universities, scholarships for the promotion of the workforce will be put in place. Above that, there will be healthcare offerings for the employees.

Mercedes-Benz's global assembly network

The new plant in Brazil is part of Mercedes-Benz’s global assembly network. This network also includes the production facilities in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. At these locations, Mercedes-Benz produces vehicles in various extension levels for local markets.

Source: Daimler