Mercedes-Benz US International, Mercedes’ plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has built its first GLE Coupé, a new crossover coupe/SUV model line.

“In 2015 we will renew almost our full SUV portfolio and have therefore built up our capacities in the US Together with the C-Class, we will produce more than 300,000 vehicles in Tuscaloosa this year,” said Mercedes production chief Markus Schäfer at the launch ceremony.

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Mercedes is renewing the majority of its SUV model line this year including the GLE which was previously the M-Class.

“The GLE Coupé is a completely new series of Mercedes-Benz. It combines typical attributes of a coupé with the versatility and robust nature of a SUV. [We expect] additional sales momentum this year,” the automaker said in a statement.

Last year, Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz Cars unit set new records with 1.75m vehicles produced and 1.74m sold worldwide.

In the first quarter, US sales grew 7.6% to 78,156 cars while worldwide sales increased 14.8% to 429,602 units, a quarterly record. SUV sales grew 31.9% to 107,321 vehicles.

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To date, Mercedes-Benz has spent US$4.5bn on the Tuscaloosa operations, opened originally in 1997 to produce the ML-Class SUV. Besides the GLE and GL, Tuscaloosa has built the C-Class sedan since 2014 and it has also produced KD kits for final assembly in India, Thailand and Indonesia.

Last January, Mercedes said production of R-Class vehicles would be moved to US contract manufacturer AM-General in Mishawaka, Indiana, which will gradually free production capacity or the SUVs. In 2014, MBUSI produced more than 232,000 vehicles.

“As part of our growth strategy, we are expanding our global production network and use additional capacities of our contract manufacturers as well. So we are increasing flexibility and efficiency of our production organisation. Our global production standards guarantee the world-renowned high quality of our Mercedes-Benz vehicles, independent of their production site,” said Schäfer.

Local news report here (AL.com)