FRANKFURT (AP) -- About 10,000 workers at German carmaker Daimler AG's Sindelfingen plant gathered Monday to ask management not to send production of its C-Class Mercedes cars to the U.S., a move the company is considering to take advantage of lower production costs and to avoid currency fluctuations.
Erich Klemm, the workers council's chief representative said the model line was of central importance to Daimler's biggest car production facility, near Stuttgart.
Daimler management could decide as early as Tuesday whether to move production of the vehicle to its Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant in 2014. A move to the U.S. would put about 3,000 jobs in Sindelfingen at risk, according to the workers council. The C-Class line, which includes a sedan, coupe and wagon, is currently built in Sindelfingen and Bremen in Germany, as well as in South Africa and China.
Tuscaloosa currently builds the R-Class, what the company calls a "sports tourer" vehicle.
Shares of Daimler were about 3 percent lower at euro33.64 ($50.46) in Frankfurt morning trading.
