Mercedes-Benz SA celebrates 500,000th C-Class rolling off the line in East London

Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) builds on its rich heritage of 71 years of manufacturing in South Africa with the 500 000th C-Class (W205) rolling off the line at its East London factory.

The East London factory is one of four C-Class plants in the world that manufacture the luxury sedan. The 500 000th W205 unit milestone follows the mid-cycle facelift of the W205 model and coincides with the celebration of 25 years of manufacturing the C-Class sedan.

"Since 1994, when the first C-Class model rolled off our assembly line, we have never looked back in producing excellence from this plant," says Andreas Engling, CEO of Mercedes-Benz South Africa.

"Producing the 500 000th unit of the W205 model reaffirms our commitment to manufacturing excellence and the positive multiplier effect that our operations have on the economy of East London. This achievement also follows the R10-billion investment into the expansion of the Plant to equip it for the future."

The first customer ready W205 vehicle rolled off the production line in March 2014, marking the beginning of a new era for the six time JD-Power award-winning factory.

Since 2014, the East London factory has experienced a number of positive developments, such as the steady increase to production volumes with a significant number of units produced for the domestic market, and exports to more than 80 markets around the world.

Additionally, the W205 model enabled the East London factory to produce several variants of the C-Class, which include the Mercedes-AMG C 43 4MATIC, Mercedes-AMG C 63, Mercedes-AMG C 63 S and the C350 Hybrid.

The 500 000th Mercedes-Benz W205 C-Class is an Obsidian Black, right-hand drive automatic C200 full roof sedan which will be exported to the United Kingdom.