DaimlerChrysler Opens Sprinter Plant in Charleston, S.C. ( about time )

and thanks to the miracle of tariffs , they build the Sprinter in
Germany,
unbuild the Sprinter in Germany and rebuild the Sprinter in the USA. I
wonder
what that does for cost and reliability.

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http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=17703&CFID=1698432&CFTOKEN=93771121

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DaimlerChrysler Opens Sprinter Plant in Charleston, S.C.
03/30/2007

2007 Dodge Sprinter vans are now built
at new plant in South Carolina

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The DaimlerChrysler plant in Ladson, South
Carolina, just outside Charleston, has officially kicked off
production of the new 2007 Sprinter van under the Dodge and
Freightliner brands. The plant was inaugurated with the help of South
Carolina Governor Mark Sanford earlier this week. Annual production,
assuming two shifts, will be 32,000.
The former plant in nearby Gaffney, with annual capacity around 22,000
units, could no longer cope with the growing demand for the van,
available in versions up to Class 3. The new plant - in fact a former
American LaFrance fire-truck factory, a division of Freightliner LLC
that was sold a year ago - offers 42,780 square meters (460,000 sq ft)
of space. Some US$35 million was invested in renovations to the
facility, which presently employs 180 workers.

The apparent new benchmark in its class, the Sprinter has been sold in
North America since 2001 and has captured a firm commercial customer
base. Canadian Sprinters are offered only behind the Dodge nameplate
and arrive here via Halifax, where final pre-delivery inspections -
but no assembly -- are done.

In fact, the Ladson plant is solely the result of tax law, says
Wilfried Porth, head of the Mercedes-Benz Vans business unit of
DaimlerChrysler. The vans are fully built at a Mercedes-Benz plant in
Dusseldorf, Germany and are then partially disassembled before being
shipped to the U.S. They arrive on American shores as a body and
interior, with all wiring intact, plus separate crates containing all
the underpinnings - suspension, tires, engine, transmission, etc. It's
cheaper, says Porth, to use this semi-knockdown approach than pay U.S.
import duties.

Sprinters for Canada and the U.S. are offered in three vehicle lengths
on two new wheelbases. With a line-up of cargo vans, passenger vans
and new chassis cab models, the line also boasts three roof heights.
Canadian Sprinters are powered by a 3.0-liter Mercedes diesel while a
3.5-liter gas V6 engine is also offered in the U.S. Standard equipment
includes the new Adaptive ESP (electronic stability program), which
features additional sensors that now take into consideration vehicle
payload, further reducing the risk of vehicle skidding and loss of
control.

The all-new Sprinter goes on sale this spring.


..

 

Am sure there's a lot of it about (Vodoo economics).

DAS

For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling
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It would seem so but to partially disassemble of vehicle right
after you assembled it seems to take the voodoo to a higher Alice in
Wonderland
Level.

..

 

My family used to operate a factory in south Texas that manufactured
land leveling equipment (Reynolds Manufacturing, in case you've heard of
it). Whenever they sold machinery to a client in Mexico they would
build it, then cut it apart, ship it, and then reassemble it in Mexico.
They did this to avoid the 100% import tariff on manufactured goods
going to Mexico. The way they did it, it was classified as scrap metal.

Treating relatively simple heavy equipment this way doesn't seem so bad,
but I wouldn't want a car that had been put together twice.

 

I expect this plant isn't part of the Chrysler sale.