Fuel efficiency will be a key focus of the sales strategy for the redesigned, Alabama-built Mercedes-Benz M-Class, the German automaker’s chief said Tuesday.
The 2012 SUV, set to enter mass production at the company’s Vance factory next month, is achieving fuel economy up to 30 percent greater than the current generation, said Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Mercedes’ parent Daimler AG.
«We have improved the new M-Class in basically all aspects but most significant are the improvements in fuel efficiency,» Zetsche said during a briefing in New York.
New engine offerings include a 4-cylinder diesel for models sold in Europe and a 6-cylinder diesel for U.S. versions, he said. The new M-Class also will be offered as a hybrid, like the current generation.
«They have great performance, very good comfort, even better dynamics than the previous ones and are still great vehicles off-road,» Zetsche said. «But once again, the focus will be the high efficiency of these new vehicles. »
The M-Class is the flagship vehicle of Mercedes’ 2,800-worker factory in Vance, where production trials of the SUV’s new generation started last fall.
The 2012 model made its world debut earlier this month, and it is set to go on sale in the United States this fall.
Zetsche said Mercedes has sold out of the current generation M-Class, so the new generation will be produced at capacity, «a very unusual but highly welcome situation.»
Daimler has reported rising global sales for Mercedes amid an overall industry recovery. In May, Mercedes sales rose 7. 3 percent compared with a year ago and so far this year, sales have increased 10.5 percent in 2010.
"The past eight months have been a great boon to the automotive industry as a whole and for Daimler in particular," said Zetsche.
Daimler expects its sales growth to continue, especially in emerging markets like China and Russia, said Zetsche.
Moreover, they recognized the potential threats, including the sputtering U.S. economy, the crisis of sovereign debt in Europe, the violent protests in Arab countries and the aftermath of Japan's earthquake and tsunami.
"There are many areas of the world are causing some concern, so I would say that there are some clouds on a blue sky," he said.
According to Mercedes, U.S. city / highway fuel estimates for 2012 M-Class are 20/25 miles per gallon for diesel BlueTEC version and 17/22 mpg for the gasoline engine.
That compares with 18/25 mpg and 15/20 miles per gallon, respectively, in current models.
Along with the M-Class plant workers Vance Mercedes GL-Class produces full-size crossover SUV and R-Class
Several of them have traveled to Germany for training to build the new M-Class Today, Governor Robert Bentley, who is on a mission of economic development in Europe is scheduled to meet with some of the workers in Alabama when I visited a Mercedes.
Vance plant is also preparing to produce the C-Class sedan, one of the best-selling automaker.
Plans for the C-Class production to arrive in Alabama at the time for a 2014 launch vehicle. Meanwhile, Mercedes can not keep up with growing global demand for C-Class family, said Zetsche.
However, this growth did not accelerate the production schedule in Vance said.
"We have linked this decision to produce the next generation C-Class, scheduled for that period of time," he said. "That's why 2014 is largely a fixed date."
Moving it up will require the company to "double inversion" to produce the current generation C-Class for a short time and then the next-generation car, Zetsche said.
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