(September 8, 2014) TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Mercedes-Benz is plans to increase capacity at its Tuscaloosa, Ala., plant to 300,000 vehicles by the end of 2015, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said here last week.

Last year the plant built 185,000 M class, GL class, and R class crossovers, and it began production of the redesigned C-class in June. A fifth vehicle, a coupe version of M class will be built at the plant starting next year.

The total plant investment between 2010 and 2015 will be about $2.4 billion, Zetsche said.

"We are the first German manufacturer in the luxury segment to produce a sedan in the USA. With the C-Class we are expanding our capacities in the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa — we are proud of our team members doing such a good job," said Markus Schaefer, member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production & Supply Chain Management.

"The local production will enable us to supply the US market more quickly and flexibly. We will lower logistics costs and safeguard ourselves better against exchange rate fluctuations through 'natural hedging,'" said Schaefer.

"The Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa plays an important role in the global production network for the new C-Class. For the first time, Mercedes-Benz is producing the C-Class sedan on four continents. Within a period of only six months production has started at all four locations: in Bremen (February), East London, South Africa (May), China's capital Beijing (July) and Tuscaloosa. "This is an excellent performance by our team that is unmatched anywhere in the world," said Schaefer.

Zetsche said, "Mercedes-Benz already has the most versatile product portfolio in the US luxury market today. It ranges from vehicles like the SLS AMG to the CLA. With this model we have successfully defined a new entry segment: the response of our customers greatly exceeds our expectations."

More than 27,000 CLA vehicles have been sold in the U.S. since the market launch in September 2013. In September, Mercedes-Benz will introduce a compact SUV onto the US market for the first time with the GLA. The S-Class Coupe will be coming to US showrooms in mid-October.

The Tuscaloosa plant (Mercedes-Benz U.S. International – MBUSI) was founded in 1995 and started production of the Mercedes-Benz M-Class in 1997. The SUVs of the GL-Class and R-Class were added later. The plant manufactured more than 185,000 vehicles in 2013. To date, more than two million vehicles have been produced at the location.