Thousands of Mercedes-Benz GLEs Mysteriously Chilling on North German Runway

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Daimler has been forced to store thousands of vehicles at a former military airport in northern Germany, the result of supplier issues that are stalling deliveries of the updated GLE-Class. While keeping cars on ice until they can be shipped is totally normal, it’s odd to see them lined up on a runway. It makes it look like they’re all about to take to the sky or engage in the most congested drag race in history.

Assembled in Alabama, these SUVs are being held up by unknown supply chain problems. Mercedes-Benz suggested there may be also be problems stemming from the multi-market launch of the updated GLE and a surge in output from the U.S. factory.

Bloomberg, which also covered the story, noted that this isn’t the first time a German manufacturer has stored automobiles at an airport. Last year, Volkswagen leased space at an unfinished Germa airport in order to store thousands of vehicles of its own. Loads of dieselgate cars have been similarly kept on ice in odd spots around North America — we covered how the company converted the defunct Pontiac Silverdome into a makeshift purgatory back in 2017.

For Mercedes, the reasoning is a bit less clear. According to Daimler, demand for the GLE has remained strong since the model’s update. However, a glance at sales through 2019 shows deliveries are down in Europe by a broad margin. While that’s undoubtedly due to the gradual rollout of the model’s fourth generation, it’s looking like that might not be the only problem.

Numerous German outlets claim the cars are being held over various “defects” and that vehicles are being rotated in and out on a daily basis, the vast majority of them being GLEs. However, GLS, E, C and S-Class models are also sitting at the Ahlhorn airport. Stuttgarter Nachrichten reported that roughly 9,000 cars are also rumored to be heading to Daimler’s plant in Bremen for some unknown improvements.

From Bloomberg:

The company has issued four profit warnings in little more than a year, most recently in July, when the company included a “slower model ramp-up” as one of the reasons for cutting its full-year guidance. At that time, Chief Executive Officer Ola Kallenius highlighted issues with the company’s SUVs on a quarterly earnings call. Problems with a supplier in the U.S. caused production bottlenecks, Kallenius said at the time.

Daimler rose 2.1 [percent] to 43.93 euros at 9:49 a.m. in Frankfurt trading, trimming losses this year to 4.3 [percent]. Carmakers are under pressure from slowing markets globally.

The automaker claims nothing is out of the ordinary, adding that it has used Ahlhorn airport for storage in the past. However, the GLEs appear to have left the site with few vacancies (check out the drone footage from Radio Bremen below). Hopefully, Mercedes can get these babies out to Europeans as soon as possible — as that would go a long way toward improving GLE figures within the market.

[Image: Daimler AG]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Tinbad Tinbad on Sep 05, 2019

    “Made in Alabama”

  • Schmitt trigger Schmitt trigger on Sep 05, 2019

    OT: Watching the attached video, I saw the Kassbohrer auto-transporter, and remember how ubiquitous they appeared to be on a recent trip thru Europe. This piqued my interest and Googling the company and found that among other things, at one time also produced the Setra buses, which are also quite ubiquitous over there.

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