Production starts at second Mercedes-Benz C-Class plant

Ryan Joseph Ramos May 19, 2014

There’s a lot of demand for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and as such, the German automaker needs to have enough facilities to ensure the supply of this high-selling model line. Things should get a boost now that the second of a planned four total locations, at the new East London facility in South Africa, has just started production.

The first dedicated C-Class production facility in Bremen started production some three months back. Now, the car manufacturer can ramp up its production for the well-received C-Class line.

The Bremen plant is the lead plant that’s responsible for controlling the production of the other facilities. The last two locations are in Tuscaloosa in the US and in Beijing, China. Once those facilities are in operation, the C-Class will become the first model from Mercedes-Benz to be made in a whopping four continents.

If that doesn’t tell you how important the C-Class is to Mercedes-Benz’s aspirations to reclaim the global luxury automaker crown, I don’t know what does.

Since 1954, Mercedes-Benz has started and maintained a presence in South Africa. It was in 1984 when the company took majority ownership of the East London plant, and this new C-Class becomes the fourth generation of the C-Class to be assembled in the facility. The plant fills demand for both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive markets.

As a testament to the quality of production in the East London facility, the plant has garnered multiple awards, not the least of which is the 2013 J.D. Power Plant Quality Silver Award, effectively putting it among the top production facilities in the Europe and Africa region.