Probable Mercedes HQ move from NJ to Atlanta

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Newspaper reports in NJ indicate that Mercedes most likely will announce the relocation of their US headquarters from Montvale,NJ to Atlanta in January.

The news is not surprising as the climate is not construed by many as being "business friendly". In addition, the high cost of doing business here is not favorable to private sector employers. Hertz is also relocating their current corporate HQ just down the street from Mercedes to Florida. The total job loss will be 1000 and 700 respectively.

The NJ government recently bestowed generous tax incentives to Subaru of America to relocate their HQ building from Cherry Hill NJ to Camden. There was speculation that they would move to PA.

People are wondering if BMW will follow Mercedes and relocate their corporate HQ out of NJ. BMW and Mercedes are about 1 to 2 miles away from each other here.

I think it makes sense for Mercedes to move closer to their manufacturing operations down south. An added benefit is to escape the oppressive taxes and costs associated with doing business in NJ.

Link is below.

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/201...eport_says.html
 
The'll do okay as long as they stay out of California. If Governor Moonbeam finds them making a profit there will be nothing but trouble. Toyota got the message and is leaving. One can only wonder what took them so long.
 
Porsche is finishing up their new HQ in Atlanta. Racetrack and all.

BMW still has their huge plant up the road in Greer SC do may be they do move.
 
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Mercedes sells a lot more cars on the East coast, but I guess the location of their HQ doesn't matter that much. They'll probably lose some people who don't want to move though. Living close to NY is probably more interesting than Atlanta.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Mercedes sells a lot more cars on the East coast, but I guess the location of their HQ doesn't matter that much. They'll probably lose some people who don't want to move though. Living close to NY is probably more interesting than Atlanta.


If you call high taxes, bureaucracy and cold weather interesting, then, yes, a few might find living close to NY more interesting than Atlanta.

As far as sales, Georgia and California have the largest number of luxury car owners, but NJ didn't make the top ten on the list...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/your-money/in-sales-of-luxuries-geography-matters-.html?_r=0
 
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There is a lot of money to purchase such vehicles in Atlanta. I'm sure they would not move corporate HQ to near their expansive plant in Vance, AL. Not much else other than their assembly operations and several suppliers still exist there. It is literally a very small town with a huge automotive plant in its backyard.
 
Corporate headquarter location and vehicle sale have no relationship at all. Companies are moving from 1 state to another have nothing to do with sale volume of former state or next state.
 
GA has been working hard to attract auto. Look at west point GA, where all the textile industry went belly up, the towns were in despair, and the state took on very expensive ($400M in tax incentives to put that plant there) push to get it. Other than Auburn university across the line in AL, there isn't much on I85 south of Atlanta for a long, long way... Except the Kia plant.

Companies are going to move where it's cheapest. If GA is pushing millions upon millions to get them to move, then they may well do it.

The funny part is that when everyone moves there, the population comes in and demands better schools, more services, etc., then the costs in those areas rise. And ta da, the companies are sheltered to he tune of hundreds of millions that the taxpayers then have to shoulder.

It's amazing how many places I've gone to across AL/GA/TN/etc that have 9-10% sales tax rates. Someone is paying for the tax abTements and tricks played to woo the companies there.
 
You can't blame any company for wanting millions in tax abatements. Toyota moving from CA to TX.

Which state/city wouldn't want good paying jobs in their area.
 
Ireland gave Delorean huge tax breaks to set up shop there. Look at how well that worked out.

Yet if I wanted to set up a rubber dog poop factory that employs five people they wouldn't cut me any slack, anywhere.

If I were filming a movie, though, hoo boy!
 
Happy they got out of NJ. MA, NJ, and, yes, parts of NY - not the whole state, NY is huge, people forget this - have super high costs of living.. so does CT. FL, PA? Not so much.

California? I would go with "parts of." L.A.? Probably just like living in NJ or Boston, honestly. High rent, high prices, low wages for MOST.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
...
It's amazing how many places I've gone to across AL/GA/TN/etc that have 9-10% sales tax rates.


There are no sales tax rates in GA higher than 8%. State tax is 4%.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Ireland gave Delorean huge tax breaks to set up shop there. Look at how well that worked out.

Yet if I wanted to set up a rubber dog poop factory that employs five people they wouldn't cut me any slack, anywhere.

If I were filming a movie, though, hoo boy!


Drugs! Entrapment. BACK TO THE FUTURE!
laugh.gif


Epic.

And I like DeLorean DMC12s..
 
Part of reality though is attracting the talent who works for HQ to a desirable city. I never been to Atlanta but it is not on a list for myself to ever visit. Any small dunk town can try in the USA but if the staff is not interested they will leave.

Cadillac IMHO did a great move for staff moving to NYC.
 
It may not happen. Local business press knows and says that NJ has a formidable fund of incentives they could use to keep MB there.

The Atlanta relo talk is viable, and they've been looking at local real estate in the process.

Folks here know that MB (like any potential relo situation) would play GA (and NC, which is also an option) incentives against what NJ offers up at the last minute. The last minute option means getting the financial incentives without the headache of moving.

I do hope they come, but to me it isn't a given until a formal announcement.
 
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Part of reality though is attracting the talent who works for HQ to a desirable city. I never been to Atlanta but it is not on a list for myself to ever visit. Any small dunk town can try in the USA but if the staff is not interested they will leave.

Cadillac IMHO did a great move for staff moving to NYC.


Never been there, but you still feel qualified to belittle Atlanta?

Would you care to criticize any other towns you've never visited?
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Mercedes sells a lot more cars on the East coast, but I guess the location of their HQ doesn't matter that much. They'll probably lose some people who don't want to move though. Living close to NY is probably more interesting than Atlanta.


If you call high taxes, bureaucracy and cold weather interesting, then, yes, a few might find living close to NY more interesting than Atlanta.

As far as sales, Georgia and California have the largest number of luxury car owners, but NJ didn't make the top ten on the list...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/your-money/in-sales-of-luxuries-geography-matters-.html?_r=0


Climate and a plethora of professional athletes who live hete probably skew this number with regards to Georgia.
 
I as born in CT, but have lived in NJ, MA, VA, TX, CO, FL, VT and Canada (Winnipeg). All of those places have their pros and cons.

I've also been to all 50 states (not airport layovers- actually been to) and I would say that every place has its attractions as well as drawbacks.

I would not summarily dismiss any city. I certainly wouldn't bash a place I've never visited...too condescending for me...
 
Originally Posted By: Joe1
..The total job loss will be 1000..

I'd have assumed MBUSA employed more at its HQ as sales were 312,534 vehicles during 2013.

The corporate exodus to 'cheaper' states will continue unabated as punitive business policies kill the goose that supports public troughs.

When Toyota bolted its HQ in California for greener pastures, Governor Brown said the relocation was "barely a [flatulence]."
Nissan had done the same a few years earlier.
Of course California no longer manufactures any automobiles, save for Elon Musk's Teslas at the now-defunct Buick plant in Fremont.

If watching the sun settle into the Pacific each evening wasn't so pleasant, I would have pulled up stakes decades ago.
smile.gif


source:
http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/about_us/press?pressId=ccc532b9fc663410VgnVCM1000007c184335____ http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/about_us/press?pressId=ccc532b9fc663410VgnVCM1000007c184335____
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
GA has been working hard to attract auto. Look at west point GA, where all the textile industry went belly up, the towns were in despair, and the state took on very expensive ($400M in tax incentives to put that plant there) push to get it. Other than Auburn university across the line in AL, there isn't much on I85 south of Atlanta for a long, long way... Except the Kia plant.

Companies are going to move where it's cheapest. If GA is pushing millions upon millions to get them to move, then they may well do it.

The funny part is that when everyone moves there, the population comes in and demands better schools, more services, etc., then the costs in those areas rise. And ta da, the companies are sheltered to he tune of hundreds of millions that the taxpayers then have to shoulder.

It's amazing how many places I've gone to across AL/GA/TN/etc that have 9-10% sales tax rates. Someone is paying for the tax abTements and tricks played to woo the companies there.


The Hyundai plant is at the end of 85. So yeah, after Atlanta, 85 is the road to the Hyundai plant.

The ATL move for MB kind of makes sense. They sell a lot of cars in the ATL region and in nearby kind of big markets. Charlotte is only a little over 4 hours away, Bham is only 2 hours away, FL is nearby and a border state, etc. It's close proximity to a lot of business they are involved in, not to mention their Tuscaloosa, AL plant, which makes the ML series and I think the C class now. Even without "move here" incentives, it's an attractive place to operate. Overall costs tend to be lower. You don't have to pay people as much because the cost of living isn't as high. Even ATL is still the kind of place where you can get a big, nicely priced house in the quiet suburbs and commute into the city without much trouble compared to NJ. In NJ you would probably get a 1950s tract house in need of renovation and a whole lot of traffic for the price of a 1990s-2000s 2000 sq ft McHouse in ATL.

Yes, sales tax in the South can get ridiculous, which is a head shaker, but I would say my overall cost of living is still WAY lower than my sister's in VT. I would say it's about on par with NC, where I lived before and for the majority of my life.

The costs do rise a little with better jobs coming in, but auto manufacturing has been going strong here for over a decade without many issues. We need better education anyway because it still sucks. The places that were hick towns in the late 1990s when ground was broken are still hick towns. The only difference is some people are living a lot better than they did, and have much better prospects than they did, and their kids might actually graduate high school and maybe go to school after that. So far, it's a win win, but this has only been going on for less than 20 years, so only time will tell. I think the MB plant is the oldest auto plant in this state, opened around 1997. Unions have not taken over here, as there is no need, so they haven't cripped manufacturing like they did in the North. If the Northern states could kick their union mentality of "I need $100 an hour to keep the lights on," they could be competitive. Labor in the Northeast just isn't competitive price-wise with just about anywhere. In the Southeast people will simply do the same thing for much less and MB doesn't notice the difference.
 
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