Owning a Mercedes-Benz used to be a prestigious title for only the wealthy. However, since car imports were legalized in 1990 a steady stream of newer models have lined Mercedes dealership showrooms. Today more and more owners are getting the chance to buy one, whether brand new or secondhand.
Mercedes-Benz opened its first factory outside Germany in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, on September 28, 1956. In fact, the factory's first diesel truck (lorry) L 312 was built there with a six-cylinder engine and 110cv of power. Then they brought out buses and vans to become the biggest heavy vehicles manufacturer in all of Latin-America.
The A-Class, a hatchback and the GLC coupe models were produced in Juiz de Fora in the state of Minas Gerais between 1999 and 2010.
Mercedes-Benz even started a production plant for 600 million reais ($165m) in Iracemápolis, Brazil. It was built about 170 kilometers north west of the capital of São Paulo city. The plant, which officially opened in September 2016 made C-Class Saloons and GLA compact SUV cars.
However, things came to a halt when Mercedes-Benz announced Thursday 17th December, 2020 that it would end vehicle production at its factory in Iracemápolis (SP). The automaker said that the decision was made due to the economic crisis faced by Brazil which was aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic, but wouldn’t impact product sales in the country.
Great Wall Motors (GWM) from China ended up buying the Mercedes factory, and their own production nowadays includes Haval H6 and the Ora 03.
Mercedes-Benz imports a wide-range of car models to Brazil, such as the EQA, EQB, EQE SUV, EQS SUV, GLC, GLE, GLE Coupé, GLS, and G-Class.
Take care!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Truck (n) = A truck (USA) is a vehicle that carries loads of product by road. In England it is called a lorry.
CV (acronym) = chevaux-vapeur, is a direct equivalent to horsepower. This is a French acronym, standing for chevaux-vapeur. bhp — brake horsepower is a term you may be familiar with, particularly if you read a lot of UK car magazines.
Comentarios