Mercedes-Benz Scales Up Engine Plant for Electric Mobility

Mercedes-Benz is scaling up its powerplant plant Untertürkheim as part of its drive to prepare for the era of electric mobility. Speaking about the initiative, Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain Management said that the company in order to strengthen its competitiveness in the era of electric mobility, the company is setting up ground-breaking production technologies at the plant for powertrain production.

One step was setting up a new e-technology center called the ‘E-Technikum’ where prototypes for electric powertrains will be made. This center will serve as a springboard for key technologies. The plant will also begin to take initial steps for the assembly of electrified powertrain modules and making components for electric vehicles.

In order to allocate space for the production of electric mobility components, products like turbine housings and fuel system components will be relocated and the employees who are affected by the relocation will either be offered similar jobs or in the new field of electric mobility. There will also be further expansion of the plant’s capacity to make high-end combustion engines like the new generation of high-efficient in-line engines. The Untertürkheim plant will continue to engage in the production of engines, transmissions and axles which are the mainstay of its current range of products.

Mercedes-Benz’s Untertürkheim plant became operational 110 years ago and is its core plant on a global basis for the production of powertrains. It also serves as the headquarters of Daimler

The plant has over 19,000 employees and makes axles, engines, components and transmissions. It is a thoroughly modern and high-tech factory that serves as a center of competence or high-efficient engines, hybrid powertrains and the production of fuel-cell systems. The site of the plant also serves as the premises for its R&D facility and test track. The entire complex in the Neckar Valley near Stuttgart is home to six facilities including the Untertürkheim factory, the Bad Cannstatt plant for forging activities and the production of engines, the Hedelfingen plant for transmissions and the Mettingen facility housing the foundry and axle production center. There is a training center in Brühl, and the flexible production facilities are in Esslingen.

Mercedes-Benz has ramped up the production capabilities of its other plants as well for higher flexibility and efficiency. The Berlin factory has been transformed into a high-tech center that makes components for CO2 reduction. The Mercedes-Benz Hamburg factory will also be modernized to make electric powertrains as well its current range of products comprising steering columns, axles, axle components, and lightweight-construction structural components. Batteries for electric Mercedes-Benz and smart vehicles are produced by Deutsche Accumotive, a fully owned Daimler subsidiary, which is part of the global powertrain production.