New stamping plant for Mercedes-Benz

The Daimler Board of Management has today announced a new stamping facility which will produce exterior panels for Mercedes-Benz trucks and the successor generations of Mercedes-Benz A and B-class passenger cars .

The total investment in the stamping facility will amount to around €70 million with construction expected to commence within the first quarter of this year.

The building is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2010, when test operations will be launched. Once the first stage of construction is completed, the new stamping facility will provide jobs for around 130 people, some of whom will be employees already working for Daimler.

“The decision to construct a new stamping facility is an investment in the future of Mercedes-Benz as well as a clear expression of our commitment to the production location in Gaggenau and to the Murgtal region,” said Dr. Holger Steindorf, Head of Global Axle and Transmission Production for Trucks and Vans at Daimler. “Ensuring the location’s economic success is a major priority for us, as it safeguards the jobs we offer in the region.”

“This is one of the most important industrial facilities in the region,” said Michael Brecht, Chairman of the Labor Council at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gaggenau. “With this development the plant has taken a further step toward achieving its strategic goals. We would like to thank the managers and the stamping facility’s entire staff for working so hard to create the conditions for making this investment possible. I would also like to thank the mayors Mußler and Wein from Kuppenheim and Bischweier for their highly professional and farsighted support”.

The investment in the stamping facility sits within the framework of the Future Production Generations and Technologies initiative, the division invests in pioneering projects and future model projects even during economic downturns in order to secure its medium and long-term competitiveness.