Daimler Is Invading Michigan

Mercedes production line (Credit: Daimler )

Mercedes-Benz USA has already announced it’s leaving New Jersey for greener pastures in Georgia, and now parent company Daimler is uprooting its Norther American base to none other than the state of Michigan.

This is a surprising move, considering that Michigan is home of the Big Three, the American automotive giants (okay, one’s now under Italian management, but still). Governor Rick Snyder, who in the recent past became notorious for his denial of Tesla direct sales, happily announced the move during the Frankfurt Motor Show, beaming that yet another automaker is making his state home.

While it might seem that everyone in the American automotive industry is moving to the South these days. That’s not actually the case. Sure, that region of the United States is luring in companies with cheap labor, lax regulations and other perks, but remember that Toyota has been beefing up its technical center in Michigan, while at the same time relocating its North American base of operations to Texas.

The move to Michigan is a smart one.

Daimler already has multiple technical facilities in the state, as well as other offices that would be wise to have closer to top management. One of those facilities is Detroit Diesel. So while Mercedes vehicle production is going south, other operations are headed (or are staying) north.

Governor Snyder is really trying to leverage this new move by Daimler. He announced that his state is opening a Michigan Europe Center, which is supposed to help grease the wheels between the Great Lakes state and the EU, with the hope of increasing trade in both directions. It will have some satellite locations in some big cities on the other side of the Atlantic, including London and Berlin.

Also interesting is the fact that other automakers have been fleeing New Jersey lately, or are getting ready to. It’s easy to conclude that the Garden State isn’t doing what’s necessary to keep those businesses happy, for whatever reasons.