Mercedes-Benz to expand SUV production at Tuscaloosa plant

Mercedes-Benz is to expand SUV production in its US operations. “In the next years, we invest $1.3 billion into the expansion of our SUV production and turn the Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant into a high-tech location,” said Markus Schäfer, member of the Divisional Board Mercedes-Benz Cars, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management. “In this way we can produce the next SUV generations even more flexibly, efficiently and in proven top quality.”

The Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant will also assemble the next SUV generations including the hybrid versions. The plant expansion in this context includes a new body shop, major enhancements to the SUV assembly shop as well as upgraded logistics and IT systems. State-of-the-art technologies and an end-to-end digitisation of production processes enable a highly flexible production. As part of the global production network, Tuscaloosa is connected to all Mercedes-Benz Cars locations around the world, allowing a location-independent access to data and process management. Every single installation and every robot, for example, can be controlled and updated to new software programmes. Big data applications will be used for intelligent analyses and for an improvement of the production processes.

“With this expansion and modernisation of our plant, we will create 300 new jobs and continue the success story of Mercedes-Benz in Tuscaloosa,” said Jason Hoff, president and CEO of MBUSI. “Our entire team is proud to reinforce the State of Alabama’s growing reputation as a leader in high-quality automotive manufacturing.”

The new 1.3-million square foot body shop will use the latest lightweight technologies with innovative joining processes and employ a modular approach to manufacturing. MBUSI’s current SUV assembly shop will be expanded by 139,930 square feet and receive a larger, more flexible ‘marriage’ station, where the body is merged with the powertrain, allowing for production of a wider range of vehicles. The plant will also upgrade its Logistics IT system to create a seamless integration of the supply base into the Mercedes-Benz plant operations.