Jason Hoff (front middle), manager Mercedes-Benz plant Tuscaloosa, with his team at GLS Job Number One.
The Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama started production today of the GLS SUV that debuted last fall at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Timing couldn’t have been better since MB SUV sales in January were 62.5% higher than in the prior-year month, at a new record of 53,966 units.
During 2015, Mercedes-Benz renewed almost its entire range of SUVs. The new models are successful – sales of the GLC, the updated GLE and the new addition to the SUV portfolio, the GLE Coupé, are at record levels.
In 1995, the plant Tuscaloosa started as the first major passenger car facility of Mercedes-Benz outside Germany and is considered as the nucleus of the automotive industry in Alabama. The plant is the traditional production location of the SUVs in the global production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars. In 2015, Tuscaloosa built more than 303,000 vehicles – an all-time record for the plant, which celebrates 20 years of production in early 2016.
The GLS, dubbed the “S-Class among SUVs”, is the only seven-seater in the Europe, an premium SUV segment. For customers in the US, the new GLS is now available. Market entry in Europe follows in spring.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
