Mercedes-Benz’s Rastatt Production Facility To Produce Compact EVs

Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz vehicle production plant in Rastatt, Germany, will begin producing compact electric vehicles … “in the future.” This follows a new agreement between management and the works council at the plant, according to a new press release.

This agreement (or more accurately, this declaration of intention) means that the Rastatt plant will be Daimler’s “third center of competence” for electric vehicles in Germany (the Bremen and Sindelfingen plants being the other two). The compact vehicles produced at this plant will reportedly be sold under the company’s “EQ” branding.

“Our Mercedes-Benz car plants in Germany play a decisive role in electric mobility. They are centres of competence for the production of EVs in the global production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars. Thanks to highly flexible structures, we are able to integrate electric vehicles in the regular series production in our plants. At the same time, we are increasing our competitiveness with the efficient integration of Industry 4.0 applications. This allows us to benefit from the opportunities of electric mobility, while considerably reducing the required investment,” commented Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain.

“With the new declaration of intent, we are shaping our future, thereby creating good prospects for our workforce in the coming age of electric mobility. The Mercedes-Benz plant in Rastatt will be the centre of competence for the production of new compact EQ models. In the year of our 25th anniversary, this is great news for our highly motivated workforce,” stated Thomas Geier, Site Manager Mercedes-Benz Rastatt plant.

As part of the new plans, a new training center will be created on site to train the plant’s workforce in the skills required for electric vehicle production.

As a reminder here, Daimler is currently (publicly) aiming for the release of more than 10 electrified passenger vehicles by 2022 — with these offerings including everything from SUVs to compacts. The company is apparently expecting that 15–25% of all Mercedes-Benz vehicle sales will be of electrics by the year 2025.