Mercedes to build more in U.S.

[rickaren]

Weak dollar forces Mercedes to build more in U.S.

Posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 PM EST. (Employee News)

Daimler AG will switch production of roughly a fifth of its Mercedes C-Class models to the United States from Germany in 2014 in a move to avoid damaging currency fluctuations and protect its margins, Reuters reported.

The announcement raised fears among workers in Germany that Daimler’s home market is losing importance as a production hub for luxury vehicles, and workers at the key Sindelfingen plant downed tools in protest, the news service said. Daimler’s plan marks another step in a broader strategy by global corporations to concentrate production and sales of products within the same currency or trade zone, Reuters noted.

The IG Metall union said Daimler’s move was a “blatantly wrong decision” putting about 3,000 jobs at risk and pledged to fight it with all means at its disposal, the news service said. Daimler said producing more vehicles in the United States will make the company less vulnerable to currency swings between the euro and the dollar and enable savings of about 2,000 euros per C-Class compared with cars imported from Germany, the story said. (Reuters)