Daimler sees value in having more suppliers in Alabama, U.S., where it has a factory in Tuscaloosa, the group stated on Tuesday.
Daimler stated having more regional providers increased overall flexibility, minimized transportation times and improved production and logistics expenses.
“In general, this results in significantly increased performance,” the company stated.
Two years ago the company had revealed plans to invest another $1.3 billion to expand sport utility vehicle (SUV) production at the Tuscaloosa Mercedes-Benz factory.
“These are interesting times for our Alabama center as we prepare to take on this new challenge to build the next generation of SUVs,” stated Jason Hoff, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz United States International, after conversations with selected providers recently.
Daimler’s remarks followed renewed concentration on Germany’s trade surplus with the United States.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to target Germany partially for its trade policies, flagging the United States’ enormous trade deficit with Germany.
Both Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz and BMW have plants in the United States where they construct higher-margin sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for export to Asia and Europe.
Trump in January had cautioned German vehicle companies he would enforce a border tax of 35 percent on automobiles imported to the United States market, a strategy that drew sharp rebukes from Berlin and struck the automakers’ shares.
