If they’re gonna build the wagon here, they better start to give us all the cool variants we never get.

Yeah, build the wagon here and don’t give it to us.

Great, they are going to move production to a 3rd tier country, us. Pretty amazing we have gone so low that we have the low cost workers. Next China will be building here. Oh yea, they already have, Hummer.

Really this is great news for us but lets us know how we are losing our standard of living pretty fast.

Well the US was built on an industrial base and now that the economy is dominated by service based industries things begin to fluster. Going back to manufacturing will have plenty of upsides.

Hopefully this will make their cars more affordable. Im not saying Mercedes shouldn’t be expensive but compared to even BMW and Audi, they are always more expensive. All the way up, including the C-Class. I’ve never understood why either. I would rather have BMW or Audi over just about any Mercedes.

I dont’ know about that, A4. Las Vegas’s service-based economy has plenty of hard-upsides.

I dont see how they can retain a reasonable profit in America being that they sale the car here for lots cheaper than what they do in the parent country, So shifting production here makes more sense. maybe by then, parts and labor wont be so expensive. But I wonder if this will lead to quality concerns and design differentiations for the American market?

For the economy as a whole, A4 is right. The US needs to diversify, and more manufacturing is a great way to do it. A good mix of tangible exports and service based industry is a step in the right direction. And I say let the Chinese build here. They’ll see quality they’ve never dreamed of when actual skilled adults build something.

The problem is the quality of the MB products made in the USA is not quite up to the standards of the German made product. This is a problem that BMW has also had. Unlike the Japanese, who have seemed to transfer there “quality first” formula to there US factories, the Gemans have not.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if we built a better Mercedes than they did?

Even if there are cost savings to be realized by manufacturing in the US vs Germany, I highly doubt MBenz would ever pass those on to the US buying public. MBenz seems to maintain pricing in relation to the quality reputation they earned from two decades ago. I wish they’d reevalute that.

I thought that MB buying Chrysler would raise the quality of that brand, it in fact lowered the quality of the MB brand. And Denver Guy is right. Any cost savings will go to increasing margins for them…

Cool, that’s good news for the economy. Let’s get some people re-employed.

Can someone explain something to me, are MB and BMW considered luxury in germany because I see some used as taxis, how does that work? I dont see any Lincolns or Cadillacs being used as taxis here in USA.

They’re still luxury, but they also have a lower range as well that doesn’t get brought here to the US. E.g. the 4 cylinder C-class. And then of course the A and B classes for Benz and previously the 1-series for BMW. When compared to other brands like Peugot and Renault you can buy cars with similar features for less or with bigger engines for the same money.

You can really get some low powered **** over there. The rental I had to go to Silverstone was a B- class Benz. Both my friend and I misheard the rental agent when she said the it was 116 ps. With the accent, we HEARD 160 ps and figured it was a diesel and would have ~200 ft lbs of torque.

LMAO nothing like flooring it on the autobahn and going no where. Seriously at another part of the trip we some how got downgraded and were given a Fiat Panda. It had more balls then that Benz.

Can’t beat em (General Motors) might as well join them.

FAIL.

This is GM Country, get the fock out.

You beat me to it carstuff…I guess everyone is preparing for us to be a 3rd world economy….

Elvacano: A lot of those countries give huge tax incentives to independent taxi owners when they buy their vehicles….if you were stuck in your car all day and it was what payed your bills would you rather pay half price for a Fiat, or a Benz?

NMOFGM – Mercedes has been building cars in the US for 12 years. You’re a retard.

@carstuff and SoTXFord

On a macro economic level foreign companies building cars here is actually more complicated than just becoming a 3rd world country.

However, your point about moving down the notch in terms of being the technology leader of the world holds truth. Fact is Americans don’t want to study and other countries do, which means technology leadership will come from another country.

The smartest people in this country realize that and many will prepare themselves for that. During my MBA program one frequent topic of conversation was how good some of the ex-pat packages are and pros and cons about becoming an ex-pat. Since I’ve completed my MBA I’ve started studying Mandarin. Not that I’m going to make the jump to China; however, there are interesting opportunities there as well as many other nations around the world. The US isn’t the only player in the world anymore, but out global strength is going to decrease as our labor force continues to forgo going to college.

It amuses me to know end how people whine about CEO salaries, but they’re too stupid to go to college and have to beg for government handouts.

This is especially true when it comes to having Masters degrees in the sciences or even an undergrad degree in the sciences. Funny thing about it is when you look at the top paying jobs around the country, they’re all sciences based. So every time a girl blows off a geek she’s just proving her ignorance and will one day complain about how much CEOs make while she’s knocked up and getting government handouts.

good as I would rather see more industry here then some where else.

@ aesir: Thats because the REAL top earners in this country are rarely the people who deserve it. I’m a huge fan of the american dream, but what we have now is a bunch of fat rich assholes sucking the life out of everyone else, and repressing any real talent from rising to the top.

@ Elvacano , most taxis in Germany are specially built diesel E class Mercedes. they are luxury cars with wood and leather interiors, a friend of mine bought an ex E class taxi with 550k km and it runs great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILiFA3Xyr-Y&feature=player_embedded#t=68

there goes buildquality in the c-class… dont think this is a clever move on MBs side…