In the coming years, Automobilwoche reported that Mercedes will invest billions of dollars to modernise its plants in China, Germany and Hungary as the carmaker prepares to switch to electric vehicles and reduce emissions.
The European Union has set a goal to halve CO 2 emissions per passenger car over their life cycle by the end of the decade, and is looking for an agreement on a 2035 deadline to end the sale of fossil fuel cars.
Mercedes has said it will be ready to go electric by the end of the year, if market conditions allow.
The production manager Joerg Burzer said that the plants in Beijing, Rastatt in Germany and Kecskemet in Hungary are investing a three-digit million amount per plant for the run up.
The carmaker will produce the first model of the compact vehicle platform MMA from 2024, and will start working on the Rastatt plant over the next few months. Burzer said that the number of models produced there will be cut to four from seven.
Mercedes will invest a low single-digit billion dollar sum in modernising the painting systems at its plants in Sindelfingen, Bremen and Rastatt in Germany.
The report said that the modernisation aims to reduce energy and water consumption, and the painting system's reliance on gas, as opposed to carbon-free energy.
Mercedes is considering expanding its US plant in Tuscaloosa, where it can benefit from government subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act last year, according to Automobilwoche.
Burzer said Mercedes was ready to respond to any changes in the regulatory environment.
Burzer said that the framework conditions around the world may have to react to that again and again.