Daimler and BAIC will invest 1.5 billion euros in an additional production location in China in which will be produced conventional Mercedes models “Made in China, for China” and also battery-electric vehicles.
Daimler and BAIC will invest 1.5 billion euros in a second production location in addition to its established local production hub in Beijing’s Yizhuang industrial park.
As part of the investment, a BAIC production facility located in the capital city’s Shunyi district will be transferred to BBAC, and modified to facilitate complementary production capacities for Mercedes-Benz cars. Furthermore, both partners will invest into new product localization at the future second Beijing-based Mercedes-Benz production facility.
The new location will produce also vehicles from the new EQ brand. Daimler is dedicated to furthering New Energy Vehicle (NEV) development in China, already the largest NEV market globally, as part of the company’s “Made in China, for China” commitment.
“In 2017, Mercedes-Benz Cars has set the seventh production record in a row, also thanks to our strong growth in China. Globally, our plants run at full capacity, which is why we need further production facilities around the globe,” said Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain.
China was again in 2017 the Mercedes-Benz largest single market, with local production of around 430,000 cars accounting for over 70% of total local sales. This allowed that BBAC, the Mercedes and BAIC joint venture, has become the largest Mercedes-Benz car production plant worldwide.
With a workforce of 11,000 people, BBAC produce the C-Class, E-Class, GLA and GLC. In 2017, Daimler and BAIC announced a joint investment of 655 million euros for battery electric vehicles.
The first model from Mercedes-Benz’s EQ brand, the EQC SUV, is scheduled to roll-off production lines by 2019.
