| This is one of the first benefits of the merger between Daimler-Benz and
Chrysler to form DaimlerChrysler. About 15,000 M-class vehicles will be produced this year
at the Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant; starting next year, the output will be increased to
30,000 cars a year. For several years, both Mercedes-Benz vehicles (the E-class 4-MATIC
and the G-model off-roader) and the Jeep Grand Cherokee have been made at the plant. This
constellation opens new production opportunities at markedly lower costs. Production of
the M-class has created over 600 new jobs in the Graz plant of the Austrian firm.
"Having already expanded manufacturing capacity by 30 percent at our U.S. plant in
Tuscaloosa, we launched production of the M-class in Graz to help us meet the very large
demand in Europe for this very successful model and to cut customer waiting times,"
says Jürgen Hubbert, DaimlerChrysler Board of Management member responsible for the
Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars division.
Manufacturing in Graz also means that DaimlerChrysler will be able to expand annual
production volumes from the current figure of around 65,000 vehicles to more than 100,000.
Capacity at the Tuscaloosa plant in Alabama, where the M-class has been produced since
1997, has been boosted from 65,000 to 80,000 units. From this summer, additional annual
capacity of around 30,000 M-class vehicles a year will be available in Graz.
M-class production in Graz will start this summer with the manufacturing of the
four-cylinder ML230. This will be followed by right-hand and left-hand-drive versions of
the ML320 (V-6) and the ML430 (V-8). Production of the 2.7 liter, five-cylinder,
diesel-powered M-class will start towards the end of the year.
Long tradition of quality work in Graz
The production in Graz will be set up at the Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant (a Magna
subsidiary), a company which has been a competent development and production partner of
DaimlerChrysler for many years. The Mercedes-Benz G-class off-roader, for example, has
been manufactured in Graz since 1979.
The 4x4 specialist Steyr-Daimler-Puch also cooperated on the development of the 4x4
system used in the current Mercedes-Benz E-class 4-MATIC. It has been producing both the
sedans and the station wagons of this model since 1996. Up to December 1998, some 20,000
E-class vehicles and over 122,000 Mercedes-Benz G-class vehicles had been manufactured at
the plant.
Since 1994, some 30,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee have been manufactured on a separate
production line at the plant per year. At a neighboring plant, the Eurostar joint venture
produces around 55,000 Chrysler minivans per year.
Because the Graz production system used for the assembly of the Jeep Grand Cherokee is
not used to its full capacity, parts of the manufacturing facilities can be used for both
vehicles. This highlights one of the first tangible benefits of the merger: such a
production system saves millions of dollars, yet still guarantees the application of
classic Mercedes-Benz production methods.
Tools to be used exclusively for one particular model are marked with the appropriate
color. Strict and separate final quality checks for both models are also a key element of
the brand separation policy.
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