bratwurst

I haven't noticed anybody talking about the decision by Mercedes to build their flagship C63 model in Alabama.

Just wondering if anyone is concerned about this? I understand all the AMG components will be shipped in from Affalterbach and assembly will be in the Tuscaloosa plant.

I realize MB can save some $ having a US plant building cars for the North American market, but the flagship??

BMW still imports their M models from Germany. Audi S and RS models come from Germany, even Volkswagen, who makes the Golf in Mexico, brings in their Golf R from Germany.

PeterUbers

Are the engines also going to be assembled in USA?

Viper98912

There is nothing wrong with building high level vehicles in the USA. People who don't work in the industry (I do) for some reason think US factories are a tier below others. They're not. They all have the same equipment and standards nowadays. Especially within a company.

The BMW plant in SC is the only plant that makes the X3/4/5/6 in the world, including the M models.

When I was in Affalterbach they were showing the me tall rack of AMG engines that were going to be sent to the factory in Alabama. The engines are still built at AMG, even if the car is built in Alabama.

This is fine, get over it guys.

frank69m

You don't want the AMG Signature Plate to say "Proudly built by Billy Bob" in Alabama?

Tjdehya

Just wondering what is there to be "concerned" about?

PeterUbers

Guys looks at all the quality control issues that come out of Germany as it is! It can't get any worse... Lol

bratwurst

This article nicely sums up my concern.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/why...ade-1170410023

quote from article

"The quality control campaigns consisted mainly of checking if bolts were installed, or tightened properly. The vehicles that came in with these service campaigns were, surprise surprise, either made in Mexico, or America. There were no quality control campaigns on German made cars. This is the main reason for my argument, and I’m sure a lot of you will disagree with me that these small cases aren’t enough to condemn the entire North American auto factories. But I will argue, that if a car being built in Mexico or Tennessee is following the same process as one is in Germany, then why does the car in Germany not have any quality control issues? I believe the answer lies in the culture of the workforce. Germans are paid more, treated better, and therefore enjoy their job more, and put more effort into it. Americans, on the other hand, are not paid as well, they’re treated like ****, and therefore, their work suffers because they don’t give a ****."

I have never owned a German car that was assembled in North America, which is why I am looking for opinions.

OC6.3AMG

I was hoping for an ED, but now am eyeing the GT-S as well.

gleil

if they built in China....

Ingenieur

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the...han-1173221244


here is the response to his diatrabe
his piece is all opinion, conjecture and bias
no facts\and porrly written to boot

when one looks at major quality tracking indexes American made cars, American made German cars and American made Japanese cars typically fair as well or better then German made ones

cars are made by automation
a machine torques bolts, not people
all the major assemblies will be made in Germany: engine, tranny, diff, instruments, seats, etc.

the car will be ASSEMBLED in the US by MACHINES primarily
QA/QC will be the sae methods used in Germany

it will make absolutely 0 difference

Ingenieur

JD Powers 2014 Initial Quality

Highest-Ranked Nameplates and Models For a second consecutive year, Porsche ranks highest in initial quality among all nameplates, with a score of 74 PP100. Following Porsche in the rankings are Jaguar (87 PP100), Lexus (92 PP100) and Hyundai (94 PP100). General Motors Company receives six segment awards—more than any other automaker for a second consecutive year—for the Buick Encore (tie); Chevrolet Malibu; Chevrolet Silverado HD; Chevrolet Suburban (tie); GMC Terrain; and GMC Yukon (tie). Hyundai Motor Company receives five awards for the Hyundai Accent; Hyundai Elantra; Hyundai Genesis; Kia Cadenza; and Kia Sportage (tie).

Other corporations with multiple award recipients are Ford Motor Company (Ford Edge, Ford F-150 LD and Lincoln MKX); Nissan Motor Company (Infiniti QX50, Infiniti QX80 and Nissan JUKE [tie]); Volkswagen AG (Porsche 911, Porsche Boxster and Porsche Panamera); Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Challenger); and Mazda (Mazda MAZDA5 and Mazda MX-5 Miata). Other models receiving awards are the Honda Ridgeline and Lexus ES.

Plant Assembly Line Quality Awards Toyota Motor Corporation’s Cambridge South, Ontario, Canada (TMMC) plant, which produces the Lexus RX, receives the Platinum Plant Quality Award for producing models that yield the fewest defects or malfunctions. Plant quality awards are based solely on defects and malfunctions and exclude design-related problems. Two sister plants receive the Gold Plant Quality Award in the Asia Pacific region. Toyota Motor Corporation’s Kyushu 1, Japan (TMK) plant produces the Lexus CT and RX. Across the road, the same company’s Kyushu 2 plant produces the Lexus ES, IS and RX. In the Europe and Africa region, Porsche AG receives the Gold Plant Quality Award for its Leipzig, Germany (P), plant, which produces the Porsche Cayenne and Panamera. - See more at: http://www.jdpower.com/press-release....o4zPQFCS.dpuf

Viper98912

Yea, that's an article that I could care less about. No offense to anyone here, but I'm going to take the actual experiences that I have in auto plants along with my daily job responsibilities about the quality expectations we're expected to have over a mechanic's opinion of what he's had to fix.

Cross-companies, yes standards are different (and most of the time they are driven by philosophy, management, and money). Intra-company, every plant has the same, if not very similar, standards. They share their own technology within their plants (in a competitive nature too).

OC6.3AMG

You call another person's writing "poor", yet misspell words?

• diatrabe (did you mean diatribe?)
• porrly(did you mean poorly?)
• sae (did you mean same?)

I personally don't care where the car is assembled, as long as it is built to the standard I expect from Mercedes-Benz.



assembly robots don't know the difference between US and Germany, but thank God the engine is still hand assembled in Germany.


Can you imagine Sha'quan White coming back from lunch, high as F*** and try to assemble a masterpiece of an engine?

Ingenieur

I said his writing is poor, not his grammer, spelling or punctuation.
It lacks logic and is void of fact
The syntax can be perfect yet the message can still be pointless
much like yours

who is " Sha'quan White " ? sounds racist?
Why not billy bob or bocephus?

they drink and drug in Germany too and perhaps 'Mafood' (or other types of people you apparently don't like) is assembling the engine by day and scheming/plotting at night?
Heck they used to drink at lunch at VW (and others).

Do you think AMG would qualify the people who build engines?
Or pull some bum off the street...lol

aren't people that are high (guess it depends on what) usually more careful? they just take longer for a given task
and judging by MB's recent QA/QC metrics perhaps a higher standard should be used?

OC6.3AMG

Funny how you didn't say the following comment sounds racist.

Makes me wonder if you're an African American who turns the slightest situation/comment into racism. We're all racist, however your state of mind is your biggest handicap. Keep playing the victim card, sooner than later you'll deal with someone like me in person who won't take this sh*t and forcefully teach you how to behave and see past race or religion.

I don't give a flyin' F*** about race or religion, however majority of Americans are lazy workers (don't get me started on union workers) who go to work and do the absolute minimum enough to keep their jobs.

I hire foreigners (most my software engineers are Asian, Persian, and Indians) and they work smart. They work and have work ethics. They are our biggest assets and we take good care of them. Some are Muslims, Hindu, Jewish, etc...

WHAT'S YOUR POINT?

P.S. I'm Iranian. <- look at my uni-brow

Anyway, a hand built Mercedes engine should be built in Germany and that's what I would pay $100K for, otherwise why not just get a CTS-V with 640hp?

Will617

Most of the engineering comes out of Germany and that is what you are buying.
Would I feel better if it was made in Germany. Probably so but I think the brand speaks for itself.

V12TTenthusiast

Wow This is a car thread not a place to spew your hate speeches, either stick to cars or gtfo

kuba.95

Personally I'd feel better if the car was built in Germany. Nothing wrong with it being built in the U.S (It's better in some ways such as our cars will arrive faster), but there's just that special feeling when your cars built in Germany.

hyperion667

zibby43

No, the motors are going to be assembled in Affalterbach, as always. This has been confirmed several times on the PL now too (not being snarky, just confirming that my response is based on evidence and not conjecture).

They will be shipped the the U.S. in crates.

bigben320e

Interesting.

I would like to know or see the data on MB rate of failures on the ones made in the US vs Germany. In my personal experience, the US built gave a a hell of a lot of issues. However, that could be my segmented experience with the R500.

Viper98912

You guys would be surprised to see how hard it is to get a job nowadays in automotive plants. Specifically non union ones. They don't just hire anyone off the streets and they go through very extensive training for their job function.

MJ50

AMG engines are still hand built in germany...
W163s were made in USA and quality wasn't the same as those built in germany in the same time period...
not sure if that has changed since...

kuba.95

My step brother had a W163. It had so many issues that it was ridiculous. Although I only heard negative things about the first gen of the M class, and nothing bad about the other two gens so far. So hopefully things have changed since I believe that the C class is one of MB's top sellers in the North America. Also It'd be a shame if a AMG such as the C63 was ruined due to poor build quality in a factory.

MB Dave

Cars are assembled by robots, people just oversee a very small portion of the operations.

Cars are global, parts are designed in california built in china and korea assembled in mexico and sold to the world.