Mercedes-Benz powertrain plants in Germany
The Mercedes-Benz Untertürkheim plant restarted production on April 20 after a suspension period. The Stuttgart plant produces engines and components that are required for production at Mercedes-Benz assembly plants worldwide – the same applies to the Kölleda and Arnstadt plants (MDC Power and MDC Technology).
Similarly, the Mercedes-Benz Berlin plant has resumed its production, e.g. of Camtronic engine management units. The same applies to the Mercedes-Benz Hamburg plant that produces axles and axle components for Mercedes-Benz vehicle production around the world.
As part of Mercedes-Benz’s electric offensive, the Kamenz battery plants of Mercedes-Benz subsidiary Accumotive -- which produce batteries for the EQ family, as well as drive batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles and 48V batteries – continued their operations during the production suspension, working on strategic ramp-up projects on a 2-shift basis with strictly staggered shifts and extensive safety measures for the employees.
Mercedes-Benz car assembly plants Germany
The gradual restart of the Mercedes-Benz car assembly plants began on April 27. At the Mercedes-Benz Bremen plant, production capacities are gradually being increased for the entire product range, which includes the bestselling SUV, the Mercedes-Benz GLC. At the same time, production of the EQC (combined electrical consumption: 21.3–20.2 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)[1] is being gradually ramped up on the same line as part of the electric offensive.
The Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant production includes the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the S-Class Saloon, the world's bestselling luxury saloon in 2019, for which China was the largest market last year. The E-Class and S-Class electrified models, hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants, are also produced at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen. This year Mercedes-Benz will start producing the new S-Class in the new "Factory 56" in Sindelfingen, which will open in September 2020.
The Mercedes-Benz Rastatt plant is the lead plant for the worldwide production of the high-volume Mercedes-Benz compact cars: in 2019, one in four Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold worldwide was a compact car. The A-Class Sedan, A-Class and B-Class as well as the compact SUV GLA are manufactured in Rastatt. Since this year, the plug-in hybrid variants of the A- and B-Class are also being produced here.
Mercedes-Benz global production network
Mercedes-Benz Cars Operations (MO) is responsible for passenger car production at over 30 locations around the world as part of a flexible and efficient production network. After a country-specific period of work suspension, all Mercedes-Benz AG car plants worldwide will be restarting from June.
Production in China has been gradually resumed since February 10, 2020. In parallel to the restart of the German Mercedes-Benz production locations, all other international locations have resumed operations since the middle of April. These include the plants in Sebes / Cugir (Romania) that manufacture transmissions for Mercedes-Benz vehicles and the Mercedes-Benz passenger car assembly plants in Kecskemét (Hungary), an important part of the global compact car production network, in Tuscaloosa (USA), the longstanding location for SUV production, and in East London (South Africa), a part of the global production network for the C-Class, which have all restarted production. The Hambach (France) plant, which produces the electric smart EQ models, has also been gradually ramping up operations since June 2nd.
To protect its employees, the company has taken precautions to prevent infection and has agreed on a comprehensive set of measures with the General Works Council, which were introduced in the plants. These include hygiene and cleaning standards, as well as regulations for maintaining a distance of at least 1.5 metres and for the use of masks covering mouth and nose in production.
