Mercedes-Benz Engine Plant in China
Mercedes-Benz marked another milestone in its China strategy with the official opening ceremony of its engine plant, says the company.
It is said to be the first ever plant for passenger-car engines outside of Germany, built from scratch in only two years after the cornerstone was laid in 2011.
An audience of around 400 guests and partners witnessed the ceremony hosted at the Beijing Benz Automotive Corporation (BBAC) engine plant in Beijing today, Nov. 18.
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“During the past decade of the partnership between Daimler and BAIC, we have seen our production joint venture BBAC grow from strength to strength,” stated Hubertus Troska, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Greater China and chairman and CEO of Daimler Greater China.
“The investment of around 400 million euros in our first ever passenger-car engine plant outside of Germany demonstrates both our commitment to serving our Chinese customers even better with the latest technology locally made and our confidence in Mercedes-Benz’s prosperous future here in China.”
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As a green-field plant that combines state-of-the art technology with sustainable and lean production processes, the new Beijing-based BBAC engine plant will manufacture four and six-cylinder engines to power the passenger cars produced at BBAC and Mercedes-Benz vans produced locally at the joint venture Fujian Benz Automotive Co. Ltd. (FBAC).
Being based on a flexible production-line concept, the annual capacity is planned at 250,000 units for the initial phase.
“We are now building the heart of our Mercedes-Benz cars also here in Beijing, underlining our integrated and strong localization strategy,” pointed out Frank Deiss, president and CEO of BBAC.
Together with the long-wheelbase E-Class and the C-Class, GLK-Class vehicles are currently manufactured at Beijing Benz Automotive Company Ltd. (BBAC), a joint venture between Daimler and BAIC Motor.
Photo courtesy: Daimler AG
