The COVID-19 pandemic, bottlenecks in the semiconductor supply chain and the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine are affecting business. In this difficult social, economic and political environment, the Mercedes-Benz Group is continuing its transformation. In the first year after the spin-off of the truck business, the company is underscoring improved profitability with a strong result, entering into trend-setting partnerships, expanding its electric production capacities and presenting new models.
On February 1, 2022, Daimler AG became Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The new Mercedes-Benz Group now focuses fully on passenger cars of the Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Vans. As a specialised manufacturer with the world's most valuable luxury automotive brand, the Group will be able to realise its economic potential while making even greater use of its strengths vs. the competition.
In Bibb County, Alabama, Mercedes-Benz is opening a new battery factory. It manufactures batteries for the EQS SUV and EQE SUV models that are produced in the nearby factory in Tuscaloosa. Bibb County is part of the global Mercedes-Benz battery production network that includes factories on three continents.
Mercedes-Benz Vans flourishes in its role as pioneer of electric vans. This summer, fully electric van number 25,000 will roll off the assembly line. The top-selling electric van is the eVito, followed by the eSprinter and EQV.
The trip went 1,000 km from Sindelfingen to Nice (France) and some weeks later, 1,200 km from Untertürkheim to Silverstone (UK). The Vision EQXX covers these distances with a single battery charge in everyday traffic.
Mercedes-Benz aims to lead the pack in electric vehicles and vehicle software alike. To this end, the company is investing more than EUR 200 million in the Electric Software Hub at the Mercedes Technology Center (MTC) in Sindelfingen.
At its first digital ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) conference for investors and analysts, the company announced a package of measures to reduce carbon emissions, thereby creating sustainable shareholder value.
In April, Mercedes-Venz presented the EQS SUV, the first fully electric luxury SUV that seats up to seven.
At its first annual meeting under the new Group structure as Mercedes-Benz Group AG, the company reiterated its leadership aims for the luxury auto segment. Along with expediting the pace of electrification and digitalisation, the company continues to focus on its financial strength.
Mercedes-Benz provided further information on its strategy at its event, "The Economics of Desire". The company plans to place more emphasis on the luxury segment in the future as it further upgrades the product range, expedites the transition to a fully electric future and pursues higher structural profitability.
The GLC is the leader its market segment. It is also the most dynamic and successful SUV made by Mercedes‑Benz. The new generation will follow suit with 100 percent hybrid drives, outstanding on‑ and off-road features, a fully digital cockpit and a wealth of standard equipment.
The main factory in Untertürkheim will be home to the "Mercedes-Benz eCampus". It is set to open in phases starting in 2023. It will begin with a factory for small series production of battery cells, for instance.
Electrification and digitalisation are revolutionising the world of work. The transformation at Mercedes-Benz will bring changes to all job profiles. In Germany alone, Mercedes-Benz will invest a total of more than EUR 1.3 billion in the training and further education of employees by 2030.
In August, Mercedes-Benz Group AG and the Canadian government signed an LOI for further cooperation along the entire automotive value chain – from technical engineering to raw materials mining to production, life cycle and recycling. Back in October, a supply agreement was signed with Canadian-German startup Rock Tech Lithium Inc. for high-grade lithium – starting in 2026 with a training phase.
Mercedes-Benz emphasises safety and reliability when it comes to highly automated driving (SAE Level 3). For this reason, DRIVE PILOT – available since May as the world's first internationally certified system in the S-Class and EQS in Germany – is based on systems architecture that allows for safe control of all potential situations at any time.
Mercedes-Benz plans to install a wind farm at its test track in the north German town of Papenburg. By about 2025, it plans for a double-digit number of wind energy farms and, with more than 100 MW output, should cover more than 15% of the annual power demand by Mercedes-Benz Group AG in Germany.
The Berlin Marienfelde site is currently undergoing transformation and will be dedicated to digital automobile production among other things in the future. With a range of sophisticated pilot lines and test cells, the Campus will consolidate development, testing along with seamless and rapid global implementation of innovative software applications for automotive production and will also serve as a digital start-up factory.
The new Mercedes-Benz eSprinter is all about efficiency. Numerous configuration options and a powerful charging capacity combined with an impressive range are what make the eSprinter one of the world's most variable electric large vans. A pre-production vehicle made a groundbreaking test drive last October: With just one battery charge and no top-ups, it drove from the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart to the Munich Airport and back. That was 475 kilometres and power consumption of 21.9 kWh/100 km.
Mercedes-Benz and Bosch reached a key milestone on the road to automated driving: The KBA (Federal Motor Transport Authority) gave the green light for the companies' fully automated parking system at a garage in the Stuttgart Airport. This makes it the world's first fully automated, driverless parking function under SAE Level 4 that is approved for series production.
Mercedes-Benz continues to align its global production network to electric vehicles. After the company and its employees agreed on a production system last summer for the vehicle factories, the plants for producing electric drive systems – batteries, electric transmission units, and axles – followed in December. Mercedes-Benz Vans is also reorganising its European production network. This is a milestone for the Vans division on the way to providing zero-emissions mobility.
