Cars
Mercedes Plots Tesla Attack With $1 Billion U.S. Electric Push
- Company to make plug-in vehicles, batteries at U.S. factory
- Investment in electric SUVs to create 600 jobs in Alabama
Mercedes Plots $1 Billion Tesla Attack
Daimler AG plans to spend $1 billion to start production of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles at its Alabama factory, setting the world’s largest luxury-car maker up to battle with battery-car specialist Tesla Inc. on its home turf.
The German automaker will build its fifth battery plant globally and create more than 600 jobs in the region, the company said Thursday in a statement. The Alabama factory will assemble plug-in sport utility vehicles, taking on Tesla’s Model X and making Stuttgart-based Daimler the first European company to assemble fully electric autos in the U.S.