Mercedes S-Klasse, Made In USA?

In an attempt to continue reducing costs, it would appear that German manufacturer Daimler is considering shifting some of the S-Klasse model production to the United States. At least this is what a report in German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung says, naming the manufacturer's Vance, Alabama facility as the plant to produce the North American S-Klasse.

This will mean the model will be built in three locations, instead of two: Bremen, Germany, Vance, Alabama and a location in China. For the US facility, output is said to be set at around 80,000 units a year, amounting to a cut in costs of some 64 million euros for the German carmaker.

The decreased expenditures would be realized thanks to the fact that the hourly wage at the Vance facility is roughly 30 euros, less than in the German locations, where employees are being paid 50 euros for their work, the newspaper reports.

But savings will not only come from wages being paid. Daimler will also gain by eliminating the currency exchange rate between the US dollar European euro. Additionally, import duties and freight costs elimination will complete the picture. Logically, this would also mean the S-Klasse aimed for the US maybe a bit less expensive...

Until this news turns out to be true or not, the Vance facility will continue to build the M-Klasse, the GL-Klasse and the R-Klasse models. In the first eight months of the year, Vance rolled off its assembly lines 66,710 vehicles, nearly half of the 2008 output, according to Autonews.