The new made-in-South Africa C-Class would be exported to more than 80 countries, including the UK, said Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) production VP and CEO designate Arno van der Merwe on Tuesday.

Speaking in Ekurhuleni, he noted that South Africa was currently set to be the only supplier of right-hand-drive models for the global market, but that the East London plant would also produce a number of left-hand-drive models.

MBSA exported the previous C-Class model to the US, but this country now had its own C-Class plant. Three out of four previous C-Class models produced at East London were exported to the US.

MBSA had seen investment of around R5-billion in its facilities since 2011.

Local test production of the new C-Class had already started.

The official start of volume production was set to kick off in the middle of the second quarter, with the start of exports to follow later in the second quarter.

Production of the new model would increase from the previous model’s 250 units a day to 420 units a day.

This meant the technical capacity at the plant would be around 100 000 units a year, said Van der Merwe. Roughly 85% of production would be exported.

MBSA last year produced 50 000 C-Class cars, and 5 600 trucks and buses. This was down from 2012’s 60 000 cars and 5 300 trucks and buses – a production record – as demand for the previous C-Class softened as the model came to the end of its lifecycle.

The local arm of the German manufacturer sold a total of 84 000 units of the previous C-Class in South Africa.

Securing the production and export contract for the new, fifth-generation C-Class had created 800 new jobs, with 400 people employed by MBSA, and 400 by an outsourced logistics service, said Van der Merwe.

With so many new markets to service, MBSA had to add “a new element to its outbound supply chain”.

Production of the new C-Class had seen the local introduction of several new technologies, said MBSA outgoing president and CEO Dr Martin Zimmermann.

These included complex laser welding, pressing of aluminium panels, natural fibre pressing and roll forming.

“We probably have the most advanced body construction in South Africa,” said Van der Merwe.

The new C-Class would, for example, feature aluminium to steel joints, which was “not usual”.

The sedan would have 50% aluminium in its body structure, which aided in making the new model 100 kg lighter than the previous model.

While the aluminium panels were pressed locally, the material was not yet sourced locally, said Van der Merwe, However, doing so formed part of the long-term localisation planning for the new C-Class.

The new C-Class would use an average of 20% less fuel than the old model, noted Zimmermann.

The new C-Class brought with it ten new component suppliers to South Africa.

MBSA on Tuesday reported R43.5-billion revenue for 2013, up 28.7% on 2012 numbers.

Earnings before interest and taxes were R2.64-billion, up 18.2%.

MBSA paid R1.12-billion in income tax in 2013, and R1.18-billion in duties.

MBSA would launch the new GLA in April this year, followed by the C-Class in June, said Zimmermann. These models would be followed by the S-Class S600 V12 in July, and the S-Class coupe in November.

MBSA commercial vehicles would see the introduction of compressed natural gas buses and the eigth-generation Canter, with the new V-Class arriving in early 2015.