Mercedes Plans To Invest Billions In E-Vehicles Plants

Mercedes-Benz will invest billions of dollars in the coming years to modernise its plants in China, Germany, and Hungary, according to the magazine Automobilwoche, as the carmaker prepares to transition to electric vehicles and reduce emissions. The European Union has set a goal of halving CO2 emissions per passenger car over their life cycle by the end of this decade compared to 2020, and it is seeking agreement on a 2035 deadline to phase out the sale of fossil-fuel vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz has stated that it will be ready to go electric by the end of this decade, if market conditions permit.

"We are investing a three-digit million amount per plant for the run up," said production manager Joerg Burzer, adding that these investments will be made at plants in Beijing, Rastatt, Germany, and Kecskemet, Hungary. The carmaker will begin construction on the Rastatt plant in the coming months and will begin production of the first model of the compact vehicle platform MMA in 2024. Burzer stated that the number of models produced there will be reduced from seven to four. Mercedes will also invest a low-single-digit billion dollar sum in modernizing the painting systems at its German plants in Sindelfingen, Bremen, and Rastatt.

According to the report, the modernization aims to reduce energy and water consumption, as well as the painting system's reliance on gas rather than carbon-free energy. Mercedes is also thinking about expanding its U.S. plant in Tuscaloosa, where it can take advantage of government subsidies under last year's Inflation Reduction Act, according to Automobilwoche.

The carmaker, according to Burzer, is prepared to respond to any further changes in the regulatory environment. "The global framework conditions change all the time, and we may have to react to that," Burzer said.