Yesterday, Friday, we had a tour of the Mercedes plant at Rastatt where they make the A class Mercedes. It's the small size car - pretty cute, I think. We left promptly at 12:30 in 90 degree heat. By the time we got near Karlsruhe, we ran into Autobahn traffic and it took us a total of 1.5 hours to get to Rastatt and find Mercedes - maybe a 45 minute drive with no traffic. The guide who greeted us told us to visit the small museum for about 15 minutes . I checked out the A-class delivery location (not nearly as good as BMW in Munich) and then we all gathered to see a short film about Mercedes. We were all given a headset and receiver so we could hear the guide as well as a poncho because it looked A LOT like rain. That should have been a warning!
As the film was starting, we heard a LOUD clap of thunder and all the lights reset in the room. AFTER the film, our guide told us that the lightning had just shut down the entire production facility in the middle of a shift for the 1st time in 10 years. They had no idea when they would get it up again.
Mercedes treated us to drinks in the cafe while we waited and after 45 minutes, the guide came back to tell us "No Go". They were not sure when they would have the line up and running - maybe not even tomorrow which they wanted for Saturday production. The A class is the small car so their demand is up. Since they "marry" one car a minute, you can just guess how much this is costing them. And what about the people who expect to pick up their car next week??? It was lightning and thundering the whole time we were in the cafe.
Anyway, on the way back to Heidelberg, the news reported that trains from Mainz to Frankfurt were not running because of lightning strikes and that the streets in Stuttgart were flooded. The temp had dropped to about 68 which felt great.
Dr. Susan A., Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
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As the film was starting, we heard a LOUD clap of thunder and all the lights reset in the room. AFTER the film, our guide told us that the lightning had just shut down the entire production facility in the middle of a shift for the 1st time in 10 years. They had no idea when they would get it up again.
Mercedes treated us to drinks in the cafe while we waited and after 45 minutes, the guide came back to tell us "No Go". They were not sure when they would have the line up and running - maybe not even tomorrow which they wanted for Saturday production. The A class is the small car so their demand is up. Since they "marry" one car a minute, you can just guess how much this is costing them. And what about the people who expect to pick up their car next week??? It was lightning and thundering the whole time we were in the cafe.
Anyway, on the way back to Heidelberg, the news reported that trains from Mainz to Frankfurt were not running because of lightning strikes and that the streets in Stuttgart were flooded. The temp had dropped to about 68 which felt great.
Dr. Susan A., Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
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I was pretty bummed out. This was one event that I was greatly looking forward to experience. It was fate that would not let us take a tour though. Just by judging from the video introduction, and the machines that we saw, it would have been an interesting tour.
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