this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2025
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Mercedes Benz Group AG is considering shifting the production of another vehicle model to the US in response to Donald Trump’s 25% auto tariffs.

The move may be necessary to deal with the cost of the duties, Mercedes’ production chief Jörg Burzer said Thursday, declining to comment on which model may be moved to its factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

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[–] SunshineJogger@feddit.org 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Don't. Just don't.

Trump will say: "oh look how desperate they are to sell us their cars"

Have some spine and don't, Mercedes

[–] BigShammy80@feddit.org 9 points 1 day ago

Yes. This is exactly what we SHOULD NOT do...buckle down and kiss his ass...but someone, somewhere will give a few million to support Mercedes to build a factory in America, and they will cheer themselves how effective their tariffs are...it's just a sad world we live in...

[–] Jumi@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago

They want to restart production of this model

[–] Quittenbrot@feddit.org 18 points 1 day ago

This is how NOT to do it.

[–] cronenthal@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 1 day ago

Let's see, what do you need do a modern car factory? Robots! Huh, they're extra expensive now, since there are tariffs on them. What else? Electronics! Huh, they're from Asia, with extra high tariffs. Workers! Huh, they've been deported by ICE. Building parts for automobiles! Huh, they're only manufactured in Europe and China, hence super-expensive. Guess we'll have to build a factory for auto-parts first. Let's see, what do you need for a modern auto-parts factory...

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago

And this is how Trump could sell his tariffs as a win, because somewhere a few new jobs are generated in the US.

I wonder how the EU could react to this through export tariffs on parts/IP that then would be brought to the US.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They’ve been building them in USA for a long time. Things may have changed, but when they first started building overseas instead of Europe, the reports were that you could totally tell. Creaks, groans, and rattles. Personally, with my tiny sample sizes, this holds true.

The average buyer doesn’t really care as long as their leased Mercedes makes them look like they are successful.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I worked at a Mercedes dealer when the M-Class was coming out of Alabama. They were not great. Kind of on par with Chrysler minivan build quality.

That’s the car I was thinking of specifically. Wasn’t a good time overall for Mercedes though, to be fair.

[–] frazw@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Been doing that my whole life.

[–] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

People who buy Mercedes don't care about this

[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not buying them and not considering them a desirable luxury item are extremely different. You think luxury brands don't care about publicity??

[–] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What I say is that people who buy luxury items usually do not engage in boycotts.

[–] BigShammy80@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean if you really want a luxury car you probably buy RR or something like that... Mercedes is not what it used to be in build quality etc...

[–] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I did not bring up the part about luxury items though

Boycotting German "premium" brands is a good idea if you value quality and reasonable pricing anyway.