Mercedes-Benz’s announcement Thursday that it will begin production of a new vehicle at its Tuscaloosa County plant beginning in 2027 was what you might call an expected surprise.

Like when somebody tips you off that you’re going to have a surprise birthday party just before you walk into a darkened room.

For weeks, the automaker’s executives had been hinting in public comments that there was spare capacity at the company’s Alabama plant.

Speculation began once Mercedes started talking about measures to deal with the Trump Administration’s automotive tariffs.

But there’s a lot that we don’t know about the mystery vehicle.

The company provided few details, beyond referring to it as a “core segment vehicle.”

The Tuscaloosa plant is home to the GLE, GLS, GLE Coupe, and Mercedes-Maybach GLS SUVs, as well as the EQE SUV, EQS SUV, and Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV, for all global markets.

As you can see, that’s a lot of SUVs. Previous reports had Mercedes’ executives hinting that the vehicle could be a C- or E-class sedan.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal said Mercedes could relocate its GLC SUV to the U.S., which is currently made in Bremen, Germany, but that could cause political problems at home.

Motortrend and Automotive News are also betting on the GLC crossover.

“With volumes of about 50,000 a year, it’s a vehicle that makes more sense for our SUV-crazed market than, say, a car model such as the C- or E-Class,” Motortrend reported. Motortrend named the E-class its’ 2025 Car of the Year.

According to the Journal, RBC Capital Markets thinks Mercedes could increase its 90,000 U.S. car sales coming from Tuscaloosa by another 50,000 to 60,000.

About two-thirds of the 324,500 vehicles Mercedes shipped to dealers in the U.S. last year were imported. The company’s GLE and GLS SUVs assembled in Tuscaloosa still use engines and transmissions from Europe.

Mercedes-Benz said earlier this month the 25% tariff on auto imports would likely impact its margin by 2.5 percentage points on a gross basis, before any mitigation.

During its time in Alabama, Mercedes has invested roughly $7 billion here, including $1.2 billion since 2017 to produce electric vehicles and batteries at its Bibb County plant.

Today, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) employs more than 6,000 people and about 60,000 jobs with regional suppliers, including 200 located in Alabama.