Mercedes-Benz is building a factory to manufacture lithium-ion battery cell batches as part of its electric vehicle production plans.

The company is systematically reorganizing its Mercedes-Benz Drive Systems business unit and plant in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim in line with its «electric-only» directional.

Likewise, the company is investing a nine-digit amount in the transformation of the site, which in the future will focus its research, development and production on electric drive technologies.

Starting in 2023, a new factory for small-batch production of lithium-ion battery cells and an in-house battery safety laboratory will complement Mercedes-Benz’s existing research and development activities in the field of battery technology.

Battery systems for fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will be produced at the Mercedes-Benz battery factories in Hedelfingen and, in future, in Brühl.

Production and assembly of electric drive parts for future Mercedes-EQ models will start at the end of 2024.

In 2021, Mercedes-Benz Cars sold a total of 1,943,900 units, slightly down on the previous year (2020: 2,087,200).

With this, the company remains number one in the premium segment in Germany and some other key European markets, as well as in South Korea and Japan, measured by the number of new vehicle registrations.

At the beginning of 2021, Mercedes-Benz Cars still expected its unit sales to increase significantly.

Mercedes-Benz

Non-capitalized research and development spending of €5.5 billion in 2021 was above the level of the previous year (2020: €4.8 billion).

More than anything it relates to the development of new models, the anticipated spending for the renewal of existing models and the further development of fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly driving systems, as well as safety, automated and autonomous driving technologies. and the digital connectivity of the products.

As a proportion of revenue, non-capitalized research and development costs increased from 4.0 to 4.1 percent.

A main feature of the investment in property, plant and equipment in Mercedes-Benz Cars will be the start of production of battery electric vehicles on the EVA2 platform and of the new GLC.

In addition, the company will continue to invest in alternative drive systems.