Norris

Thats right only 50 GL320's will be produced for the entire USA till further notice.
Received the info yesterday. Demand is way higher than supply for sure!

Nevada Jack

I have not heard a figure but did hear that most of the 320 engines are going to EU orders because of the high demand there.

50 per month is a pretty small allocation...that would not even provide every US dealer a car in any one month. Where did this information originate?

Norris

Nevada Jack, The information came directly out of Alabama via the regional rep who called about availability in order to place an order. It surprises us too. Today if someone wanted to place an order for the GL 320 they are looking into July/August delivery.

It looks as if the GL320 is the hottest SUV on the market and MB intends to keep it that way.

Nevada Jack

Thanks for the response. So often information of this type is picked up off another board somewhere. This is reliable source stuff and is nice to know, especially for buyers trying to make a decision. It could cost MB some sales though to set the allocations so tight...that is a very small number of cars!

Distribution in Vance told my rep that my car looked good to stay on schedule for April 26th build and to be built as ordered. It is a PRI 1 order, has a PO # and client information attached. Glad I decided to act in December...:-)

Abscam

How many production lines do they have in the factory? How many cars can come off a specific production line? Perhaps 50 is the US allocation and that many or more are bound outside US? How many 450s are produced each month?

MBUSI site states there are two plants. Plant 1 and 2 can build M and GL and Plant 2 can also support R builds. Also, it states there is 1 body shop, two paint shops and two assembly shops all under one roof.

"Assembly Shop
The M-Class and R-Class Assembly Shop has 6 “Trim Lines”, 4 Final Lines, Door Line, Engine/Chassis Line, Off-Line Quality Testing, as well as a repair area. The lines run East and West and the vehicles usually face the same way the majority of the time."

"Production volume in 2005 is approximately 100,000 using flexible manufacturing technology we have the capability to produce 160,000 M-Class, R-Class, GL-Class, and variations." That is 416 a day based on 240 production days.

"Our new Paint shop will be able to produce up to 600 vehicles a day. Paint is not just about color; the paint protects the body."

From the front page - MBUSI Quality Policy: "Nothing but the Best for our Customers and the Environment ... Let's do our Best together with Continuous Improvement..."

AutoSaurus

This table shows

Dec 06-Dec 05- YTD 06 - YTD 05

They are far below capacity but most of 06 was ramp up anyway.

Germancar1

I can believe that 50 are being built per month right now, but they've got to increase that. Keeping it in demand is good and all, but lets not get carried away. If they're going to add the GL550 and the GL420 Bluetec to the line somtime in 2008 they've going to have to increase produce several times over. If the GL outsells the ML so what is what I say to that. The R is dead anyway, and they all come from the same chassis/component set so this shouldn't be hard to do. They're doing the 50 per month (if true) on purpose to get top dollar for each one.

We all know that when the GL320 and GL420 Bluetecs arrive and are certified for those 5 remaining states production is going to go way up. Cali alone will absorb way more than just 50 units a month! On second thought I almost don't believe it would be that low now!!!

M

boxboss

If production was truly 50/month, demand would vanish. If only 200 people a month wanted one - a small number in the scheme of things - in 6 months, there would be an 18 month wait! No way anyone's going to wait that long, they'd all do something else, and demand would vanish.

I doubt that 50/month number is correct. Maybe as a couple of week production adjustment or aberration, but not as an ongoing production plan.

Nevada Jack

There is no way the factory tries to control demand and keep the price up by limiting production. The reason for the low production (if true) is probably due to limited engine blocks and as stated the word is that EU production is getting the priority for them. I agree with boxboss on questioning the number of 50 units...even without NY, CA and the other three states that is a very low number of cars for the US market.

boxboss

45 states would take issue with that!









(but I know what you meant)

Germancar1

I agree, it doesn't make sense. Thats why I said that they can keep it low, but not get carried away. They at least need to make enough of them to satisfy deposited orders in a timely fashion, i.e. just enough to keep them from sitting on dealers lots. I would think that any one of MB's biggest markets/regions was absorb 50 of them a month alone.

M

Germancar1

Gotta disagree there Jack. They do it all the time. We know Mercedes can make more than 50 GL320 CDIs a month if they wanted too, especially in this plant. That is if we believe that this "50" number is accurate. They're keeping production low on diesels partly because of demand (there isn't as much demand for a diesel as there is for a gas version of the GL) and secondly they want to keep them selling for sticker. Car companies do this all the time with specialty models like a diesel or a hard to get sports car or coupe. The GL320 is just that, a specialty item at the moment. When a car is hot production increases no matter what the company "says" about how they can't build any more of them. The goal is to sell all they can, and eventually the "keep them exclusive" arguments gives way to business 101, selling more cars.

M

cyeung65

Totally agree. Why would MB care about getting "top dollar"? If they have a hot product and can build enough of them - reducing supply is a ludicrous business decision. They have a whole plant down there, they can always raise the price AND crank up the production.

I have seen a couple of dealers posting on ebay who CANNOT move GL320s at sticker!

Could this 50 per month US limit be related to emissions limits? Is the GL320 switching to the 50 state Bluetec engine and winding down production to make the changeover? These could be more logical reasons.

Oh and another thing....

If they truly are capping US supply for financial reasons - I would say its an oil conspiracy. Have we already forgotten $3.50 per gallon gasoline? Just when a Mercedes comes out with a gargantuan SUV competitive with Navigators, Escalades, Range Rovers, and can get 28 mpg, they don't want to sell too many of them????? Maybe Dr Z has Shell Oil options.

harkgar

The new 2008 diesels (Bluetec with AdBlue) will be more expensive to make then 2007 Bluetecs. The 2008s will have more emission equipment but otherwise very similar to the 2007s.

It is likely a matter of market demand for MB diesel trucks and SUVs.

Nevada Jack

I do not believe MB would hold production down on the diesel to ensure "sticker" on the lot. Also, I would like a url on ebay showing GL320's going for less than sticker. GL450 stock cars are all over the place but ordered ones are delayed but not as much as the diesel. As I stated I do not believe the "50" figure but also I did hear that EU demand is getting priority for the GL320 so the production levels are probably high but the US share is low.

Regardless...to order a new MB from the factory in 2006/2007 is a complete disaster. It started with the S Class and now is SOP for all models...deleted options, build date adjustments, long waits, lack of information on options, etc. Dealers have no idea from day to day what MBUSA will do next.

Sorry for the rant....

Norris

I did double and triple check the info I was given, and each time the number 50 for the USA was given to me. This is strictly due to the high engine demand in the EU. BTW I too would love to see a GL320 on ebay being sold for less than sticker. I feel lucky to be getting ours in next week for 2K over invoice.

Nevada Jack

That is quite a good price based on the scarce nature of the beast. Wish you a trouble free delivery and enjoy!

I guess people forget that engine is used in all models of MB in EU and diesels account for 60% (I thinkt that is the correct figure) of their sales there.

oknish

Who is this EU? And why are they getting all our MBs?







Just kidding. TGIF.

Nevada Jack

LMAO....

macmorgan

I am not quite sure the exact reason for the delay of the GL320 but diesel sales in the USA is not exactly soaring... not like overseas. Not many dealers are holding the line on getting list price but they're not giving them away either. It's early in the production schedule so give the guys in Vance a chance to ramp up production.

We have 2 unsold GL320 that can be changed. So email me with you information and I'll be happy to get you one of these great MBs.

mbslk350

My dealer just told me that my GL320 won't be built until the first 10 days of JUNE. I was originally told April build, then May and now June. I ordered it on December 21. The allocation just before mine is scheduled for March 5 production, then they have NO more allocations until mine in early June. At this rate, pretty soon I'll end up with a 2008 model (and 2008 prices).

Nevada Jack

A bummer! I hope it is limited to your dealers allocations and not a national problem which will see all builds pushed back. I have a April 26th build date. Should that be "adjusted" I will be looking elsewhere for my next set of wheels.

boxboss

I said that a great way to crush demand, not increase it, is limiting production to 50/month. I hate it for you NBJ ( ) if that happens to be the case.

boxboss

You need to take some type of action on this (I'm not talking legal action.) This would be totally unacceptable to me. There is no reason to wait 6 months to get a vehicle. I would tell the dealer "Either get the car here in April/May or cancel it. I'll go somewhere else or get an X5." (that will stir things up..) This is

carpersn

Yeah, that's nuts...go with NBJ's dealer and make a trip out of picking it up. 6 mos. on a car that is already in production? Sounds like they may have gotten someone willing to pay + sticker for yours, so they bumped you (maybe??)...