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Mercedes-Benz, the world’s most valuable luxury car brand which is preparing to go fully electric by the end of the decade wherever market conditions allow, continues to realign its global production network towards electric vehicles.
The Stuttgart-Unterturkheim plant plays a decisive role in this strategy. In addition to conventional drive units and components, it is already responsible for the production of batteries and axles for plug-in hybrids and fully electric Mercedes-EQ models.
With the launch of the Mercedes-Benz eCampus a few months ago, the plant laid another milestone in its transformation. The production and assembly of electric drive units from 2024 onwards was part of the plant’s vision for the future in 2019 already.
Now the company and employee representatives have agreed on the significant expansion of production capacities for electric drive units as part of a new works agreement. The previously planned capacities will be doubled in the course of the new agreement – from 2024, the ramp-up will begin at the Unterturkheim location. In the target scenario, one million electric drive units can be produced, for example for vehicles on the MMA (Mercedes Modular Architecture) platform.
Jorg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, responsible for Production and Supply Chain Management: “Unterturkheim will continue to drive Mercedes-Benz in the truest sense of the word, also in the electric era. With production volumes for our new Mercedes-EQ models, we are making our traditional location in the Neckar Valley fit for the future and continuing its success story.”
Frank Deiß, Chairman Mercedes-Benz Drive Systems, Head of Production Powertrain Mercedes-Benz Cars and Plant Manager, Mercedes-Benz Unterturkheim: “The transformation of the Unterturkheim location is progressing with great strides. With highly efficient drive units and batteries, we are making the Unterturkheim plant fit for the future. In future, we will be able to supply e-drives for one million Mercedes-EQ vehicles to our vehicle plants. That makes me proud. The ramp-up will begin in 2024. With our highly flexible and committed teams here at the location, we are continuing to write the success story of the Unterturkheim plant together.”
The electric drive unit for the new models is being developed in-house at Mercedes-Benz. Construction of the new assembly lines on the site of the Untertürkheim plant, as well as the Bad Cannstatt plant, will begin next year. In the future, Untertürkheim and the Hedelfingen and Mettingen annexes will manufacture and supply parts of the electric drive unit. The basis for these sustainable jobs is a comprehensive training and retraining programme for the
The Mercedes-Benz Drive Systems business unit is responsible for the entire drive portfolio of the Group, and bundles all drive-related activities in the areas of development, procurement, controlling, human resources and production under one roof. The Unterturkheim plant is the largest location in the global Mercedes-Benz powertrain production network, and has several plant annexes in the Neckar valley. With its approximately 16,000 employees, the plant currently produces engines, batteries, axles, transmissions and components. The location is also home to a large part of the Group’s powertrain R&D, with around 3000 employees and a test track for vehicle testing. In addition to battery systems, parts of the electric drive systems are already being developed and tested here today. Unterturkheim is also the location of Mercedes-Benz Group AG headquarters.
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