German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is planning to manufacture a new sport utility vehicle (SUV) model at its Alabama manufacturing plant in the US.

To be produced as part of the carmaker's plan to launch 13 new models through 2020, the project involves an investment of $350m and 400 new jobs.

Daimler Board of Management chairman Dieter Zetsche said that the new model destined for the US auto assembly plant would be an SUV.

"At our plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, we are currently preparing for the production of another new SUV: an especially dynamic all-terrain vehicle," Zetsche said.

"You will hear more about that soon."

Expected to enter the production by 2015, the preparations for the new SUV model are currently being executed and will be developed in Vance.

Alabama plant currently employs about 3,000 workers and manufactures the M-Class and GL-Class SUVs in addition to the R-Class crossover.

Mercedes-Benz is also planning to unveil its new S-Class model during mid-2013.