Because rising taxes on imported cars make it unfeasible to keep selling cars in Brazil, Daimler AG is apparently considering a local plant to build the upcoming generation of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class there.
According to a report by Der Spiegel, the initial production capacity of the alleged factory will be of around 20.000 cars per year and will all be destined for South American countries, but especially Brazil.
The report doesn't mention where it got the information and we have a bit of trouble believing Daimler AG will invest into a Brazilian factory to manufacture just 20.000 cars destined for the local market, unless we are talking about a CKD assembly line, which would comprise of much less investments.
A Daimler AG spokesman acknowledged the fact that the German brand is considering the build of a new plant for the W215 C-Class, but they have made no final decision yet. “We are looking at Brazil, just like various other locations,” he said.
The report comes after the three-pointed star brand announced a few years ago that about one fifth of the global C-Class production will come from a new production site.
Although Brazil is a growing car market and Mercedes-Benz has had an increasing success there in recent years, the local government has increased a tax on imported cars in 2012, making for a change of strategy for Mercedes and other foreign luxury car makers.
Google News