Daimler Plans $1 Billion U.S. Expansion for Electric SUVs
Daimler AG is investing $1 billion in its Tuscaloosa, Ala., assembly plant and surrounding operations, mainly to prepare the facility to make electric SUV/crossover vehicles about four years from now.
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Daimler AG is investing $1 billion in its Tuscaloosa, Ala., assembly plant and surrounding operations, mainly to prepare the facility to make electric SUV/crossover vehicles about four years from now.
The expansion, which will create 600 jobs, will include a new global logistics center and aftermarket support hub. The company also plans to begin constructing a 1 million sq-ft battery-making factory near Tuscaloosa next year.
Daimler’s new electric SUV will be marketed under the company’s EQ line of electrified vehicles. The sub-brand’s first model, the EQC crossover, will begin production in Bremen, Germany, in 2019. Daimler plans to offer more than 50 electrified models by 2022, including 10 EQ-branded EVs.
The Tuscaloosa plant currently supplies about 310,000 conventionally powered GLE and GLS SUV/crossovers worldwide per year.
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