Mercedes modernizing EV plants in China, Germany, Hungary,

Robert Besser
21 Mar 2023, 15:14 GMT+10

As part of its efforts to switch to selling electric vehicles (EV), Mercedes plans to invest billions of dollars to modernize its plants in China, Germany and Hungary over the coming years.
Depending on market conditions, it will be ready to sell electric autos by the end of the this decade, where market conditions allow, Mercedes said.
The modernization aims to cut energy and water consumption, as well as the reliance of the painting system on gas.

FRANKFURT, Germany: The German Automobilwoche magazine has reported that as part of its efforts to switch to selling electric vehicles (EV), Mercedes plans to invest billions of dollars to modernize its plants in China, Germany and Hungary over the coming years.

Depending on market conditions, it will be ready to only sell electric autos by the end of the this decade, where market conditions allow, Mercedes said.

"We are investing a three-digit million amount per plant for the run up," the company's production manager, Joerg Burzer, said, noting that these investments will be at the plants in Beijing, Rastatt in Germany and Kecskemet in Hungary, as quoted by the Associated Press.

He added that beginning in 2024, the company's Rastatt plant will produce the first model of the compact vehicle platform MMA, and the number of models produced will be cut to four from seven.

The German automaker will also modernize the painting systems at its Sindelfingen, Bremen and Rastatt plants in Germany, by making a low single-digit billion dollar investment.

The modernization aims to cut energy and water consumption, as well as the reliance of the painting system on gas, as opposed to carbon-free energy, the Automobilwoche report.

To benefit from US government subsidies under last year's Inflation Reduction Act, Mercedes could also expand its US plant in Tuscaloosa, the report added.

Mercedes is prepared to deal with further changes in the regulatory environment, Burzer noted, stating, "The framework conditions worldwide change again and again, we may have to react to that."