INTERVIEW
Daimler CEO is aiming to stay top of the class
Mark Smyth spoke to the chairman of the board of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche in Sweden
The reveal of the new Mercedes-Benz X-Class has many people wondering if there is a chance for it to be built in SA. For now, Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of Daimler and head of Mercedes-Benz, says it is unlikely. "We are starting with two locations, which do not include SA," he told us. Those locations are Cordoba in Argentina and Barcelona in Spain, where the bakkies bound for SA will be built. However, he added that the company "would consider (SA production) if sales build up". Interestingly, any local production would not be at the Mercedes plant in East London. "We would use the Nissan facility, rather than East London," he says. The reason for that is because the X-Class sits on the same platform as the new Nissan Navara, which is set to be built at Nissan’s plant here. Renault is also hoping that it can build its Navara spin-off, the Alaskan, at the same plant. Zetsche points out that the company does not have a production line for the X-Class in East London, so if ...
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