Topics like this are always depressing -- my sincere condolences to US spec W210 owners affected by the rust issue. Perhaps enough consumer complaints to the right federal agency will bring about a recall, or goodwill body work at least.

This is quite correct, the current DCX influence resides in Germany. A common saying in Detroit is that "As goes Stuttgart, so goes the rest of the world".

Footnote: One area not yet controlled by the Germans is manufacturing process in NAFTA. This may represent a concious decision to maintain profitability in North America, rather than intentional compromise. It may represent an expense point that Stuttgart is not willing to cross at this time. Each side of the Atlantic represents fundamentally different views of the world at Daimler-Chrysler.

Stamping and assembly plants in Germany are mechanical works of art, where technical employees monitor automated robots all day long. One plant is capable of producing several models on the same line with minimal plant configuration change. This model suits the traditional Daimler-Benz German engineering mindset (precision, scale, metrics) quite well.

In contrast, NAFTA assembly plants are giant conveyor belts that suck in raw parts from the stamping plants, and the non-technical union employees perform monotonous (single track) tasks during their entire shift. Conversion to a new model year or type requires several days or weeks of downtime to re-configure the entire plant for production. This model suits the Chrysler North American profit ideals (greater margins, higher volume, higher quotas) quite well.

Anyhow, back on topic... ;-)
-DM

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1995 E420 SE black/black
2004 Volvo V70R AWD