DaimlerChrysler Opens New Van Technology Center in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim

Press Release

Van Evolution Centre is the heart of the VTC

·          Total investments of €75 million

·          Van Technology Center (VTC) houses numerous areas of the Mercedes-Benz Vans business unit

·          DaimlerChrysler’s Commercial Vehicles head Andreas Renschler: “The VTC will allow us to continue to attract highly qualified experts to the Vans unit in the future”

The Mercedes-Benz Vans business unit of DaimlerChrysler celebrated the opening of its new Van Technology Center (VTC) today. Key departments of the business unit’s central functions will be housed together here. The total investments in the VTC amount to around €75 million, with some 1,000 people from the Stuttgart region to be employed at the new center.

At the opening ceremony, Andreas Renschler, the DaimlerChrysler Board of Management member responsible for the Commercial Vehicles division said, “Thanks to the Van Technology Center, the Vans unit will be able to further boost its quality and efficiency, which in turn will pave the way for global growth. What’s more, the VTC will enable us to continue to interest highly qualified engineers and other experts in the Vans unit and attract them to Stuttgart.”

The VTC will bring together a large number of van functions that were previously scattered among 16 different locations in the Stuttgart area. These functions include management, strategy, controlling, sales and development, which will soon be located right next door to the testing and workshop facilities.

“The new VTC represents an important investment in securing attractive jobs in Baden-Württemberg,” explained Günther Oettinger, the state premier, at the opening ceremony. “The visions that are born here at the Van Technology Center will in a few years’ time be a familiar sight on streets all over the world, from Stuttgart to Los Angeles.”

The center’s total area measures approximately 38,000 square meters. Above the two-story cuboid workshop area are the offices, which are arranged in a split elliptical structure that rests on 12 large supports. At the heart of the VTC is the Van Evolution Center, located between the offices and the workshops. Here, 3D vehicle simulations can be displayed on a power wall measuring 3 x 7 meters.

“The opening of the VTC coincides with the tenth anniversary of our business unit,” said Dr. Rolf Bartke, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. “This center boasts not only all the necessary functions, but also a pleasant working environment and appealing architecture. Thanks to the short lines of communication and the faster, more closely aligned processes, we’ll be able to exploit significant synergy effects and cut our development times. The VTC will therefore create the basis for us to continue our success story and enter new markets.”

Mercedes-Benz Vans has production facilities in Düsseldorf, Germany (Sprinter); Ludwigsfelde, Germany (Vaneo/Vario); Vitoria, Spain (Viano, Vito); Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sprinter); and Gaffney, U.S. (final assembly of the Dodge Sprinter). Starting in 2006, approximately 40,000 units of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and the Viano/Vito van family will also be manufactured in China each year as part of a joint venture.

Last year, the business unit posted worldwide sales of about 260,700 vehicles. A record number of over 140,000 units was accounted for by the successful Sprinter model. The successor to the Sprinter is to be launched in 2006 and will be produced in Düsseldorf and in Ludwigsfelde, Brandenburg. DaimlerChrysler is investing €300 million in expanding the Ludwigsfelde plant and €550 million in improving the Düsseldorf plant. New or expanded paint and body shops will be built at each location.