Dodge is out, Mercedes-Benz in at North Charleston van factory

The Daimler AG factory in North Charleston is getting the heck out of Dodge.

The German automaker said this week it is replacing the Chrysler unit's ram logo on its line of locally made Sprinter vans with the Mercedes-Benz three-point star.

The change takes affect in showrooms Jan. 1, but workers at the Daimler Vans Manufacturing plant off Ladson Road are expected to make the switch around November.

Daimler is discontinuing the Dodge Sprinter as the result of the sale of its remaining stake in Chrysler, said Rob Moran, spokesman for Montvale, N.J.-based Mercedes-Benz USA.

Mercedes-Benz is forming a new unit to market and deliver the boxy utility vehicles to dealerships and customers in the United States and Canada, Moran said.

The change marks the luxury auto brand's return to the North America light-duty commercial vehicle business, which it exited in the mid-1980s.

"I think it's pretty exciting for the region to be able to say, 'We build Mercedes-Benz here in Charleston,'" said Andreas Maas, president and chief executive of Daimler Vans Manufacturing.

Maas said he does not expect the switch to the Mercedes emblem to result in any major immediate changes in production or vehicle design.

"The difference is the branding," he said.

The Sprinter has been available in North America since 2001, first as a Freightliner vehicle and under the Dodge label since 2003. The North Charleston plant will continue to produce vans for Freightliner, Maas said.

More than 130,000 Sprinters have been sold in the United States and Canada over the past eight years. Buyers run the gamut from big freight delivery companies, such as FedEx and UPS, to small independent businesses, such as electricians, plumbers and shuttle services.

The base price is about $37,000.

The former DaimlerChrysler AG started rolling the diesel-fueled vehicles off the North Charleston line nearly three years ago. By March 2008, the 180 employees were cranking out 70 Sprinters a day.

"We have very good quality here," Maas said Wednesday.

He declined to comment on the current size of the factory's payroll, citing company policy. But like most of the automotive industry, the plant has felt the effects of the global recession, he said.

"We are slower," Maas said.

Chrysler sold 4,605 Dodge-brand Sprinters this year through August, down 56 percent from the same period last year earlier, according to Bloomberg news service.

Daimler makes the vans in Germany, then disassembles them and ships them in "kits" to the plant in Palmetto Commerce Park for reassembly.

The reason for the extra step is a decades-old tax on commercial vehicle imports. Manufacturers are taxed 25 percent to ship a completed cargo van into the United States, as opposed to 2.5 percent for a passenger vehicle.

Reach John McDermott at 937-5572 or jmcdermott@postandcourier.com.