Mercedes has decided to shift part of GLC production to the United States
- In response to the threat of US tariffs on European car imports, Mercedes announced that it was considering producing an additional model at its US plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This plant currently produces the Mercedes GLE (E-segment), EQE (E-segment), GLS (F-segment), and EQS (F-segment) SUVs for the world, as well as the Sprinter pickup truck for the US market. The Tuscaloosa plant produced 335,515 vehicles in 2024, with a production capacity of 350,000 units per year.
- Inovev's analysis showed that the most logical solution was to produce the Mercedes GLC SUV at this plant, in addition to the five models mentioned above, because the Mercedes GLC (D-segment SUV) is the brand's most imported vehicle from Europe to the United States: 64,163 units in 2024 out of a total of 201,194 imported Mercedes vehicles.
- The German automaker has just announced that the additional model to be produced at the Tuscaloosa site will indeed be the GLC SUV for North American markets. To achieve this, the plant will need to increase its production capacity from 350,000 to 400,000 units per year, making it one of Mercedes' largest factories. Production of the GLC in the USA is expected to begin in 2027.
- The consequence of this transfer is that the Bremen site, the original production location of the Mercedes GLC, will lose between 60,000 and 65,000 vehicles per year, which will have an impact on vehicle production volumes in Germany and Europe. It should be noted that the GLC is also produced in China, but this version is not exported to the United States.