Mercedes-Benz opens passenger car plant in Russia

Even as Ford Motor Co plans to pull out of the Russian passenger car market by end-June, Mercedes-Benz Cars is starting production for the local market in the new passenger car plant in Moscow with the E-Class Sedan. SUV models will follow the E-Class.

Mercedes-Benz Cars is investing more than 250 million euros in the plant in the Moscow region. Over 1,000 employees will work in production and administration. The Moscovia plant is characterised by a flexible and green production and will use modern industry 4.0 technologies.

“The Mercedes-Benz plant Moscovia is another component of our strategy of producing where our customers are. And both partners benefit from this: Russia and Mercedes-Benz,” said Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

At the opening, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Peter Altmaier, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Industry and Trade Minister of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov, Andrej Vorobjov, Governor of the Moscow region, as well as Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain, Jan Madeja, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz RUS AO and Axel Bense CEO Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing RUS, participated.

With the start of a local Mercedes-Benz passenger car production Daimler is following up on its previous activities in Russia. The new capacities aim to serve the high demand for Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedans and SUVs, which is especially high in Russia. The plant will therefore in addition to the E-Class also produce SUV models. This means that the bestselling Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in Russia will be manufactured directly locally in future. Since 2013 Mercedes-Benz has been the premium automotive brand with most new registrations in Russia. In the past ten years the company more than doubled its passenger car sales in Russia.

Industry 4.0 at work
Production at the Mercedes-Benz Moscovia plant is characterised by the most modern and innovative Industry 4.0 technologies. Driverless transportation systems convey the bodies between the subsections. Automated shopping cart systems are also used in assembly. Additionally, there are forward-looking solutions for improving ergonomics and efficiency, such as human-robot cooperation when installing the windscreen without a protective fence.

Numerous environmentally friendly and resource-saving solutions such as paperless documentation, emission-free electric forklifts, heat recovery in the buildings and the use of water-soluble products in painting ensure sustainable and green production.