2011 Mercedes-benz C300 4matic Sport Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Mercedes details plans for move to Georgia

Automakers are getting restless in America, moving their headquarters from one location to another. Toyota is shifting its US operations to Dallas, Porsche is moving to a new headquarters across town, Cadillac is relocating from Detroit to New York, but lately the news has been about Mercedes. The German automaker has run its US operations out of its current facility in Montvale, NJ for decades, but now it's preparing to relocate to a new facility in Atlanta. And it has just announced further details of the move. The company is building a new facility at the corner of Abernathy and Barfield in Sandy Springs outside of Atlanta. That's right near where the Georgia 400 meets Interstate 285 near Hartsfield-Jackson airport, giving Mercedes access to an existing infrastructure of hotels, restaurants and of course transportation routes. The facility will take up a 12-acre plot of land and is earmarked for completion in early 2018. Lest you think MBUSA will stay put in Montvale in the meantime, though, it won't. The company is actually going to relocate twice, moving in the meantime to a temporary, 186,000-square-foot facility at the Perimeter Center in Dunwoody, GA. That move will kick off in July. The move detailed earlier this week at a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol with Governor Nathan Deal will see Mercedes hiring hundreds of new employees in Atlanta. Even after it moves down south, though, the company will keep certain functions in New Jersey, both in Montvale and in Robbinsville where it has its parts distribution center. MERCEDES-BENZ USA ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF NEW CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS IN ATLANTA MBUSA to occupy interim office space in Central Perimeter before opening new, state-of-the-art facility in 2018 February 03, 2015 - ATLANTA -- At a press conference today at the Georgia State Capitol, Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) announced the permanent and interim locations for its new corporate headquarters in Atlanta. Company President and CEO Stephen Cannon made the announcement with Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. MBUSA, which is currently headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, will construct a new, state-of-the-art headquarters facility on a greenfield site located at the corner of Abernathy and Barfield roads in Sandy Springs, expected to be completed in early 2018.

Foreign automakers pay from $38 to $65 per hour to non-union workers

As leaders for the United Auto Workers gather in Detroit for their Special Convention on Collective Bargaining to work out the negotiating stance for this year's new labor agreements with the Detroit 3 automakers, what they most want to do is figure out how to eliminate the two-tier wage scale. However, the lower Tier 2 wage has allowed the domestic automakers to reduce their labor costs, hire more workers, and compete better with their import competition. As it stands, per-hour labor rates including benefits are $58 at General Motors, $57 at Ford, and $48 at Fiat-Chrysler – a reflection of FCA's much greater number of Tier 2 workers. The Center for Automotive Research released a study of labor rates (including benefits) that put numbers to what the imports pay: Mercedes-Benz pays the most, at an average of $65 per hour, Volkswagen pays the least, at $38 per hour, and BMW is just a hair above that at $39 per hour. Among the Detroit competitors, Honda workers earn an average of $49 per hour, at Toyota it's $48 per hour, Nissan is $42 per hour, and Hyundai-Kia pays $41 per hour. The lower import wages are aided by their greater use of temporary workers compared to the domestics. Automotive News says the ten-dollar gap between those foreign camakers and the domestics turns out to about an extra $250 per car in labor, which adds up quickly when you're pumping out many millions of cars. That $250-per-car number is one that, come negotiating time, the Detroit 3 will want to reduce, as the UAW is trying to raise both Tier 1 and Tier 2 wages. Another wrinkle is that the domestic carmakers are considering the wide adoption of a third wage level lower than Tier 2. Some workers who do minor tasks like assembling parts trays kits and battery packs already make less than Tier 2, but the UAW will be quite wary about cementing yet another wage scale at the bottom of the system while it's trying to fight a bigger battle at the top. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req., BloombergImage Credit: AP Photo/Erik Schelzig Earnings/Financials UAW/Unions BMW Chevrolet Fiat Ford GM Honda Hyundai Kia Mercedes-Benz Nissan Toyota Volkswagen labor wages collective bargaining labor costs

Mercedes-Benz CLA stars in sweeping short with supermodel Karlie Kloss

The Mercedes-Benz CLA earned itself a spot on our list of the top five unveils of the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, and for good reason. The German luxury compact is the first small car from the Silver Arrow that looks suitably premium inside and out. Nowness.com has turned out a new video of the CLA featuring super model Karlie Koss in the lead role. We aren't entirely sure what the premise is, but from what we can tell, it looks as if the CLA comes to life and proceeds to be a giant jerk.
After Koss stops to take a closer look at a white horse, the CLA gives the supermodel the old stop-and-go treatment before leaving her on the side of the road. Eventually, the sedan makes nice, but Koss has to ride shotgun instead of taking the controls herself. You can check out the video below to see for yourself.