Daimler to build Mercedes plant in Brazil

German carmaker Daimler plans to build a new plant in Brazil as rising taxes on foreign vehicles make it more difficult to sell imported cars in the Latin American country, a magazine reported on Sunday. Daimler's luxury brand Mercedes-Benz is to begin assembling C-Class model cars in Brazil by 2015, with a starting capacity of about 20,000 vehicles per year, German weekly Der Spiegel reported, without saying where it got the information.
A spokesman for Daimler said the company was considering such a move but had made no decision yet. "We are looking at Brazil, just like various other locations," he said. Luxury carmakers are flocking to Brazil in an attempt to exploit growing demand there. Brazil's government complicated their plans, though, with a drive to protect local jobs by increasing a tax on foreign-made cars last year.