The DaimlerChrysler plant in Ladson just outside Charleston in South Carolina on Wednesday officially begins production of the Sprinter for the American market under the Dodge and Freightliner brands.
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The Sprinter – mostly sold outside the US as a Mercedes-Benz, and also branded Volkswagen under a model-sharing joint venture- has been assembled and offered for sale in the USA since 2001.
The former plant in Gaffney, annual capacity around 22,000 units, no longer could cope with the growing sales, DC said, so production capacity of 32,000 units is now is available at the new plant on the US east coast where 180 employees assemble the Sprinter from imported German kits on a 42,780 square metre (460,000 sq ft) site. $US35m, or EUR27m, were invested in the plant.
The Sprinter is offered in America as a panel van, crewbus and cab-chassis in different variants, in three lengths and three roof heights, and with six-cylinder diesel or petrol engines. Standard equipment includes ‘adaptive ESP’ which computes the centre of gravity of the vehicle when loaded as well as the mass of the load and uses this information to individually adjust the ESP control intervention functions. ABS, brake assist and electronic brake power distribution are incorporated into the new adaptive ESP.State and DaimlerChrysler officials have jointly celebrated the launch of the Dodge Sprinter van at the company’s new plant in South Carolina.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that the state did everything possible to attract the company. Although Georgia won an initial competition for a much larger plant, DC decided instead to build a scaled-down facility in Ladson, outside Charleston, AP added.
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