Mercedes (Photo : REUTERS)
Construction of the Black Mercedes-Benz R Class SUV has already has started at the AM General assembly line on Aug. 11, Tuesday. The assembly plant is located at northern Indiana and was once the site where the Hummer H2's were constructed.
Mercedes-Benz announced in January that it is signing a contract with AM General to construct the R-Class SUV. AM General is also known to manufacture the Humvee military vehicle in the 675,000 square-foot assembly complex.
The deal with Mercedes-Benz makes AM General the first United States-based contractor for the German automaker. The deal will greatly help AM General which took a major hit after it lost the manufacturing contract for the Hummer H2.
In the past, the Mercedes-Benz R Class is assembled at the company's plant located in Vance, Alabama. The decision to move to AM General's plant in Indiana will free up production capacity in the Alabama plant which in turn could ramp up the production of the GLE coupe, GL class and M class vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz chief operating officer Jason Hoff said in a statement obtained by PR Newswire, "We take the needs of our Chinese customers seriously and, therefore, continue to produce the R class, which is very popular in China. We have found the ideal partner for this project with AM General."
According to Fox Business, the Mercedes-Benz R-Class SUV is a seven-seat SUV which was retailed in the US. After the brief sales tenure, the company decided to exclusively sell the car in the China since 2013.
