SsangYong, is whom you speak of. And surprisingly my work carries parts for those cars. Engine only of course, they licensed to use the OM60x series diesel engines. So some 601-603 filters will list mercedes benz and SsangYong for its application, mostly the MANN filters ive seen.

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Current:
05 E320 CDI
07 GL320 CDI
08 Sprinter
05 Dodge Cummins
01 Dodge Cummins

Previous
2004 E55 AMG
2002 C32 AMG (#2)
1995 E300
1978 300D
1987 300D
2002 C32 AMG(blown motor :[
1981 300SD
1983 300SD
1987 300SDL
2002 Jetta TDI
1996 S420
1995 S500
1993 190E 2.6
1992 190E 2.3
1985 190E 2.3 5-Speed

I assume "we" means north america? At this point, the U.S. is not really in the manufacturing business any longer, which is probably OK as long as it is in position to produce other other high value exports (i.e., intellectual property) to maintain a reasonable non-agricultural trade balance. The U.S. is simply not going to revert to an industrial economy at this point. We need to stop thinking of China as a competitor and start thinking of them as a very large consumer.

Yep Craig nailed it, if you look at the world through the spectrum of manufacturing we are in trouble. But if you look at what else Americans do throughout the world we are doing extremly well, almost as well as the entire EU in some regards.

Let me ask you this, all the building and development you see going on around the world, lets use China as one example. Who do you think funds that? Organizes funding for that? Designs those buildings and factory's? A lot of people in this country. The US has moved on.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I don’t recall which MB has been built in Argentina and Brazil for years, also there are some new MB made in Mexico already.

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2000 430 ML
2005 S500
87 300 D
61 300 restoring

Mercedes 3 or 5 ton truck built in south america was really troublesome here. When I went to purchase a new one the dealer would not sell it to me for our application..A couple of years later they stopped selling them here at all. The freightliner company owned by mercedes are installing mercedes diesels in the last couple of years or engines of your choice. Feedback has been mixed so far on their engines but I believe is getting better.

I would have to agree with Craig. Yes, manufacturing in the US is going down, but other industries are taking it's place, hence the low unemployment rate. Yes, the Chinese are going to screw things up in the next few years; almost everything made over there is junk. Eventually they are going to get things straight or go out of business. I'm actually looking forward to the eventual fall of communism over there.

I think the economic/manufacturing situation in China is similar to Japan in the 50s (on a much larger scale), just give them 20 more years. China is already looking for extensive trade agreements with India and many african countries. At this point, they are communist in name only (with human rights issues), but my biggest concern is their failure to enforce intellectual property law.

No matter how much I would like to see Chinese made products go away, or at least the junk, there are too many stupid and cheap people here that will continue to buy it. Sometimes there is no way to avoid buying it, look at Wal-Mart. Everything there is made in China. After WWII when American industry was the strongest, the Japanese started making products and cars and at first they were junk and people didn't want to buy it. They had no reason to. Made in America was in. Slowly, the Japanese products did get better and got popular since they were of high quality and low cost. At least for the car industry, it made the Big 3 honest. They had been making junk for a long time but there wasn't anything else to buy until the Japanese cars showed up. Now, there are more "import" brands than "domestic" here. The Big 3 has cleaned up their act but still relies on discounts to sell cars rather than better engineering. I use the terms import and domestic very loosely since there is probably more American made parts in an Accord than there is in a Malibu. The V6 in a Saturn Vue is a Honda 3.5, by the way. I do work for Honda R&D in Ohio and Honda's philosophy is to build quality products and be a company that society wants to exist. They always try to source their parts and do manufacturing in the place where their products are sold, hence the many American plants and a few Canadian too. How does all of this tie in with the original thread of a Chinese car? Whenever another country starts bringing their products here for sale, they always seem to make a big splash and stir up the pot but eventually things settle down and a balance forms again. The Japanese-American car balance probably occured in the late 80's into the 90's and is still OK today. The Chinese cars will come here and take a portion of sales from every maker selling in the US but eventually things will balance out and the Chinese car makers will be integrated here too. China has a long way to go before they can even come close to matching American or Japanese engineering, though. So far I haven't seen anything good. I wondered this 20 years ago about Japan and I am wondering it again right now: If Chinese made tools are so crappy, then how can they build anything?

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1984 300D, 246k, veggie, sold
1982 300SD 301k

Mercedes already has a plant in China, however, I believe that it is similar to the Buick plant in China.....these are cars built for China market.

Looks like a deal is progressing:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061229/ap_on_bi_ge/chrysler_chery

"The cars, to be designed jointly by Chery and Chrysler with Chrysler taking the lead, would be sold as a Chrysler Group brand, either Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge, said (a) Chrysler spokesman."

Yep, Jeep would be about right. Or M-class.



Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

You and me both! I already know that when I retire I will NOT be in the United States! I'll be going back to Europe!

Are you aware that ALL of Chrysler's Hemi engines are made in Mexico.....??

I went to my local NAPA store today.....wanted a complete set of V-Belts for my 300D, the NAPA better line, Made in USA, Metric Sized....had to order a couple......will be picking them up next week.....will cost me nearly $20 for the set than it would have cost with Phil and Performance Products.....BUT they will be Made in USA

I believe in Made in USA products, and I ask for them.....

I also live in a very Rural area, so I do my best to purchase some of my parts from my local parts folks......but only if they can furnish USA made stuff.....

Since any MB OEM Part is not USA made.....I feel no guilt when purchasing parts from elsewhere.....

SB

Oh yeah......China will be the "Big Dog" shortly....get used to the idea, or remain on the porch......

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Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

I only buy American when we make a product worth buying. Be competitive or go out of business.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

"We need to stop thinking of China as a competitor and start thinking of them as a very large consumer".

Ha Ha.. We are the consumers. The container ships in Oakland Harbor come in full of consumable goods and leave mostly empty, heck my IMac and IPOD are Chinese made.

The sad part is that 99 % of the stuff in those incoming containers from China are consumable goods that depreciate upon arrival and are worthless in a very short time while we are paying US $$ for it. Who is the smart one?

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sophie2
1987 300TD, 168K
1981 300D 220K
1968 250S W115 Diesel Converted,
2006 E320 CDI
2006 Yanmar 3YM30 / Vindo Sloop
29 Vintage Bicycles

I heard some discussion on the radio about the economics of China. The man who was there said, in order to give an idea of the size of Bejing (?) That the main road into the city was 10 lanes wide and 45 KM long. He also said that by his count, he could see 1400 derrick cranes building new buildings. 1400! That is one heck of a lot of building!

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags