Photo: Mercedes Benz
Mercedes might be a German car brand, but it's far from being a German carmaker. The company makes cars in Austria, India or China.
Localized production not only lowers build costs, but it also reduces taxation in some markets where governments use import taxes to force automakers into opening customers. Such seems to be the case in Brazil, where Mercedes is considering car production to cater to the biggest market in South America.
“As part of our growth strategy we are constantly reviewing our global production network and in this context we’re also examining the financial feasibility of a local car production in Brazil,” Daimler spokesman Martin Steinlehner told Bloomberg.
The same source points towards the C-Class being the first luxury Mercedes to be locally produced in 2015. This would mean that Mercedes is going to be following in the footsteps of BMW, who will have their factory in Santa Catarina ready by 2014 after a $200 million investment started in 2012.
What the reports don't say is that Mercedes has previously made a version of the C-Class at its factory in Brazil, the ill-fated CLC coupe assembled at Juiz de Fora factory, close to the state border with Rio de Janeiro.
The same factory also made the W168 A-Class between 1999 and 2005 and also makes trucks and buses.
“As part of our growth strategy we are constantly reviewing our global production network and in this context we’re also examining the financial feasibility of a local car production in Brazil,” Daimler spokesman Martin Steinlehner told Bloomberg.
The same source points towards the C-Class being the first luxury Mercedes to be locally produced in 2015. This would mean that Mercedes is going to be following in the footsteps of BMW, who will have their factory in Santa Catarina ready by 2014 after a $200 million investment started in 2012.
What the reports don't say is that Mercedes has previously made a version of the C-Class at its factory in Brazil, the ill-fated CLC coupe assembled at Juiz de Fora factory, close to the state border with Rio de Janeiro.
The same factory also made the W168 A-Class between 1999 and 2005 and also makes trucks and buses.
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