By Dawn Kent -- The Birmingham News - June 24, 2012
A 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, a luxury sport utility vehicle from the German automaker that will begin production this week at its Alabama factory. The new GL-Class is longer, taller and wider than its predecessor. The vehicle goes on sale in the U.S. in September. Pricing has not been announced, but the 2012 models start at $62,445.
Mercedes-Benz will officially kick off production of the redesigned 2013 GL-Class at its Alabama factory this week, another milestone for the facility that launched the state's auto industry.
The luxury full-sized sport utility vehicle, which is entering its second generation, accounts for roughly 35 percent of the output at the German automaker's 2,800-employee plant in the Tuscaloosa County town of Vance.
Through the first five months of this year, U.S. sales of the GL-Class are up 14 percent over the same time period in 2011, and the outlook for luxury purchases remains strong.
The new GL-Class goes on sale in the U.S. in September. Pricing has not been announced, but the 2012 models start at $62,445.
"It is very expensive, but it does have a market that is looking for it," said Ivan Drury, an auto industry analyst with Edmunds.com. "It's very large, with very masculine styling."
However, it will likely be late this year before there's a full picture of consumers' response to the updated model, he said. December is always a key month for luxury automakers, as they offer a host of deals to finish out the year on a strong note.
This year, those campaigns may start earlier, since the contest between Mercedes and fellow luxury German automaker BMW came down to the wire last year. Both companies delayed reporting their 2011 sales by one day, and BMW edged out Mercedes for the U.S. luxury auto sales crown.Â
Meanwhile, the luxury sector faces risks later this year from fiscal policy, including the expiration of tax cuts for high earners implemented during the George W. Bush presidency. There's also the chance of election-year political stagnation, Moody's Investors Service says.
The 2013 GL-Class is longer, taller and wider than its predecessor. New features for the seven-passenger SUV include the debut of standard collision prevention system that recognizes when it is getting too close to the vehicle in front of it and issues a warning to alert the driver.
Also new is an easier entry system to the third row seats.
Fuel economy numbers have not been revealed. The 2012 GL-Class achieves combined city/highway fuel economy ranging from 14 miles per gallon to 19 miles per gallon, depending on the model.
The new GL-Class gets more juice under the hood, topping out with the direct-injection twin-turbo V-8 engine that powers the top-of-the-line model. With 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, the GL550 can go from zero to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds.
Mercedes also will introduce a new high-performance GL-Class in the U.S. early 2013. The GL63 AMG will feature a hand-built AMG V8 engine, with 550 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque.
Since the first-generation GL-Class debuted in 2006, more than 200,000 of the SUVs have been sold.
The U.S. is the largest market for the GL-Class. Other important markets are Russia and China.
Mercedes' Tuscaloosa County plant is in the middle of several projects that are expanding its output and workforce. Along with the GL-Class, workers build the M-Class SUV, the plant's flagship vehicle, and the R-Class crossover, a niche model that primarily is sold in foreign markets.
The company is investing $2.4 billion to prepare the plant to produce additional vehicle lines, including the C-Class sedan and another unnamed model.
The plant will eventually add 1,400 new workers for those projects, and a small portion of people have been hired already, said Felyicia Jerald, a spokeswoman for the plant.
Production trials for the C-Class are expected to happen later next year, with the formal launch set for 2014.
The rollout of the first customer-ready 2013 GL-Class will happen Thursday at the plant, an event that is set to draw Mercedes executives from Germany.
It will be the culmination of more than three years of planning for the new model, which was developed in Germany.
Over that time, teams of workers from the Alabama plant -- more than 60 people in all -- visited Germany for training on the new model. Then, they returned to Tuscaloosa County to teach their co-workers.
In some cases, Alabama workers were in Germany for months at a time, Jerald said.
"It's an honor to go, but it's also a sacrifice," she said. "I think they feel it's worth it."