Digital, sustainable, efficient.

Production at the Rastatt plant is fundamentally drive-flexible - hybrid and fully electric vehicles roll off the same production line as vehicles with conventional drive systems. The ramp-up of the CLA in Rastatt was preceded by the extensive remodelling of an existing assembly hall in record time. In preparation for the production of the next-generation model, the plant simulated the conversion of the hall virtually, acting as a pioneer of the “Digital First" approach in the Mercedes-Benz global production network. Within just a few weeks, a new production line was configured and optimised in Hall 4.0 with the help of high-precision digital simulation techniques, allowing for considerable efficiency gains to be realised in terms of construction time and costs. Furthermore, the Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS) is being used for the first time in series production of the new CLA. This chip-to-cloud architecture enables the vehicle software to be transferred via a central Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Cloud server instead of via various hardware modules. Rastatt thus serves as a blueprint for the global roll-out of MB.OS in all Mercedes-Benz vehicle plants.

The plant has also pioneered the use of AI-controlled process engineering in the top coat booths. By monitoring relevant sub-processes using AI instead of conventional control systems, it was possible to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent and significantly shorten the ramp-up time of the process.

The electric drive units and axles of the new CLA are produced at the Untertürkheim site with its Mettingen and Hedelfingen plants. A drive unit essentially consists of three subsystems: an electric motor, power electronics and the gear unit for power transmission. The power-transmitting wheelset and other components such as the control unit will in future be manufactured in Untertürkheim, Mettingen and Hedelfingen. The assembly of these components into a complete system takes place at the Untertürkheim plant. Mettingen is also responsible for the assembly of the electric axles for the CLA, which are delivered as a complete system to the Rastatt plant around 70 kilometres away.

The Stuttgart-Untertürkheim site, which celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2024, extends over several plant sections in the Stuttgart area along the Neckar valley. More than 2 million products - engines, transmissions, axles, components and batteries - leave the plant every year to be installed in a wide variety of vehicles at production sites in three continents.

The high-voltage batteries for the new CLA come from the Mercedes-Benz subsidiary Accumotive in Kamenz, Saxony. Local battery production is a key success factor for the Mercedes-Benz strategy. Accumotive has 13 years of experience in the efficient production of highly complex battery systems and acts as a centre of excellence within the global battery production network, which includes sites in three continents.

Accumotive GmbH & Co KG in Kamenz, Saxony, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG. The site has two battery factories totalling around 80,000 m² and has been producing battery systems for Mercedes-Benz vehicles since 2012. Since the start of production, more than two million batteries have already been produced at the Kamenz site.

The Kuppenheim plant, around 10 kilometres away, has been supplying the Rastatt plant with bodyshell components, structural and body parts since 2009, now also for the new electric CLA. Last year, the Mercedes-Benz battery recycling factory, the first with mechanical-hydrometallurgical technology in Europe, opened on the site.