Mercedes-Benz M-Class
Since 2005, the second-generation M-Class has been produced in Alabama, and the plant’s capacity was expanded in 2006 to accommodate production of the R-Class and of the GL-Class. Tuscaloosa was the Mercedes-Benz brand’s first passenger car production plant outside Germany.
Construction of a Mercedes-Benz plant in the USA - this decision was made by the then Daimler-Benz AG in 1993, and the project was completed between 1995 and 1997. Assembly of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars outside Germany had already been started way back in 1935, in Denmark, but production volumes had been small. The plant in Alabama was the first production location outside Germany where Mercedes-Benz passenger cars were produced for the entire world market.
The plant was built for an all-new car from Mercedes-Benz. In January 1996, the brand displayed the AA Vision at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. This design study already featured important elements of the M-Class and was elected ‘Best of Show’.
The AA Vision made its European debut at the Geneva Motor Show a few weeks later. Here, Mercedes-Benz also announced the name of the future model series, the M-Class.
The new model was a major milestone in the Mercedes-Benz product drive. The highly comfortable M-Class, featuring a chassis with a separate box-section frame, was designed for both road and off-road operation. Auxiliary frames for the front and rear wheel suspension and ten rubber mounts dampened the transfer of road bumps and noise to the bodywork.
Independent wheel suspension all round was a special feature of this chassis unique in this vehicle category.
The powertrain was specially designed for permanent four-wheel drive, with a modified variant of the electronic traction system, ETS, being used instead of conventional differential locks in the M-Class. The anti-lock braking system (ABS) was equally adapted to offroad operation. The result of this innovative vehicle concept was a car which combined the comfort and handling safety of a Mercedes-Benz passenger car with the all-terrain mobility and robustness of an offroader and the spaciousness and variability of a Sport Utility Vehicle.
‘The enthusiasm for the new car was so great that Mercedes-Benz initially had difficulties in satisfying the demand,’ said Johannes Fritz, Director, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes Car Group, Middle East. ‘The new model was marketed in North America from September 1997, in Europe from March 1998 and the Middle East a few months later.’
The ML 320 with a V6 engine developing 218 hp was available throughout the world. The top model was the ML 430 (270 hp) launched in 1998 before AMG presented the ML 55 AMG with an output of 347 hp in 1999.
In 1999, the M-Class received the ‘World Car Award’ - a distinction for the ideal car on a global scale. Numerous other awards followed. As early as 1999, some 100,000 units of this series had already been sold. In August 2000, DaimlerChrysler invested more than US$600 million in the plant to raise annual production capacity to some 160,000 cars. Today, M-Class sells in 135 countries.
After the model refinement in 2001, the ML 500 with an output of 292 hp replaced the ML 430. Production of the ML 230 was discontinued. Overall, more than 570,000 units of the first M-Class generation were built in Tuscaloosa. Between 1999 and 2002, another 77,100 M-Class units for the European market were produced at Magna Steyr in Graz/Austria.
In 2005, the M-Class replaced the first generation of this successful SUV in Tuscaloosa. The Sport Utility Vehicle comes in a decidedly sporty design with a flat windshield, distinctive fenders and an upward-sweeping shoulder line.
The new model also boasts ultra-modern engineering, including the standard 7G-TRONIC seven-speed automatic transmission which transfers engine power to the road via an even higher-performance 4MATIC four-wheel drive. AIRMATIC air suspension is equally included in the standard specifications while the PRE-SAFE® occupant protection system is optionally available.
The expansion of the Tuscaloosa plant prepared the location for the production of the new M-Class, the Mercedes-Benz R-Class (since 2005) and the GL-Class (since 2006). In 2006, a third series was added to the product range in Tuscaloosa, the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class.
In the ten years since the official inauguration of the plant, the production location in Tuscaloosa has established itself with products of a high standard of quality. ‘Mercedes Quality - made in the USA’ has become a trademark for the Mercedes-Benz cars from Alabama.
The relationship between the old and the new world is also demonstrated by the fact that Tuscaloosa is the twin town of Schorndorf in Germany, where Gottlieb Daimler was born.
source:www.ameinfo.com
