Daimler AG considers moving production of its Mercedes C-class to Vance, Alabama, from Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart to save on labor costs.

In the future, the C-class sedan could be built in three locations: Bremen, Germany; Vance, Ala., and in China.

Manufacturing about 80000 C-class cars per year in Vance would save the automaker about $9 5million because the average hourly wage at the U.S. factory is about $44 compared with $74 in Germany.

Moving some C-class production to the United States would allow Daimler to avoid swings in the value of the U.S. dollar against the euro, and save import duties and freight costs.

The Vance plant is already producing other M-, GL- and R-class models. But still it has the capacity to start production of C-class. The plant built 66,710 units in the first eight months of this year, down from 136,138 the year before, according to the

Automotive News Data Center.

The C-class is Mercedes’ top-selling car in the United States with 34,432 units sold in the first eight months, down from 50,593 the year before, according to the data center.

Daimler told news wires that it had not made any decision on future C-class production.