Mercedes leaning towards Romania as location for new plant

The Daimler Group, owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand, favours Romania over Poland for a potential new plant, according to the specialised publication Automotive News Europe, which quotes company sources. From 2011, the new production facility will assemble the new generation of A- and B-Class Mercedes-Benz compact models, dedicated to markets in emerging countries and Western Europe. The publication reveals that the new Mercedes-Benz plant could be built in the Tetrarom III industrial park, in Jucu commune, Cluj county, where Nokia inaugurated a production facility at the beginning of this week. The mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Emil Boc, acknowledged there have been talks with Mercedes-Benz officials, according to Automotive News Europe, which specifies that information circulating in Romania suggests an annual production level of 350,000 units, while officials of the German manufacturer have put annual production at 70,000 to 130,000 units. “Labour costs are much lower in Cluj than in Germany. The difference between the cost per hour in Romania and in Germany is of up to 35-36 euros,” said Constantin Stroe, chairman of ACAROM (The Association of Automotive Manufacturers in Romania).