German automaker, Mercedes, is set to invest billions of dollars to modernize its plants in Hungary, China, and Germany over the next few years as it prepares to switch to electric vehicles and cut emissions. The investments will focus on reducing energy and water consumption, as well as minimizing the painting system’s dependence on gas. Mercedes will also reduce the number of models produced at its Rastatt plant to four from seven, and start producing the first model of the compact vehicle platform MMA there from 2024. The move comes in line with the European Union’s target of halving CO2 emissions per passenger car by the end of the decade, and as Mercedes prepares to go electric by the end of the decade, provided market conditions allow. Mercedes is also considering expanding its Tuscaloosa plant in the United States, which could benefit from government subsidies. Production manager Joerg Burzer has said that Mercedes is ready to respond to any further changes in the regulatory environment.
Mercedes Plans Billions in Investments for E-Vehicle Plants
German automaker, Mercedes, is set to invest billions of dollars to modernize its plants in Hungary, China, and Germany over the next few years. The move comes as the car manufacturer aims to switch to electric vehicles and reduce emissions in line with the European Union’s target of halving CO2 emissions per passenger car by the end of the decade. Mercedes has plans to go electric by the end of the decade, as long as the market conditions allow.
The investments will take the form of a three-digit million amount per plant for the run-up, according to production manager Joerg Burzer. The plants include those in Beijing, Rastatt in Germany, and Kecskemet in Hungary. Mercedes will begin working on the Rastatt plant in the next few months, with the first model of the compact vehicle platform MMA set to be produced there from 2024. Burzer stated that the number of models produced there would be reduced to four from seven.
Furthermore, Mercedes will invest a low single-digit billion dollar sum to upgrade the painting systems at its plants in Sindelfingen, Rastatt, and Bremen in Germany. The aim of the modernization is to reduce energy and water consumption and minimize the painting system’s dependence on gas by using carbon-free energy.
Mercedes is also considering expanding its Tuscaloosa plant in the United States, which could benefit from government subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year. Burzer said that Mercedes is ready to respond to any changes in the regulatory environment, saying, “the framework conditions worldwide change again and again, we may have to react to that.”
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