Military and commercial vehicle maker AM General will start making Mercedes-Benz SUVs this summer under a new, multiyear contract with the German automaker.
AM General will make the R-Class SUV at its commercial vehicle plant in Indiana. The R-Class, which comes with six or seven seats, was sold briefly in the U.S. but has been sold exclusively in China since 2013.
Mercedes says it needs to move production of the R-Class from its Tuscaloosa, Ala., assembly plant to make way for a new SUV, the GLE Coupe, and increase production of other models to meet growing U.S. demand. Its U.S. sales rose 6.5 percent last year, faster than the industry average. Sales of its M-Class SUV, which also is made in Alabama, rose 13 percent.
AM General is Mercedes’ first and only contract manufacturer in the U.S., Adams said. But the company has made vehicles for other automakers. Mercedes’ SUVs will be manufactured in the same plant where AM General built the Hummer H2, which it made for General Motors Co. until January 2009.
