Electric car production in Untertürkheim
Daimler wants to transform its main plant with 18,500 employees into an electrical campus as quickly as possible.
(Photo: Daimler AG)
Sindelfingen 136 years ago, Gottlieb Daimler and the engineer Wilhelm Maybach developed the so-called “grandfather clock” in a garden house in Bad Cannstatt. A global corporation emerged from this single-cylinder engine. Even today, the Mercedes manufacturer mainly produces classic combustion engines not far from its place of birth. However, the production volume is likely to shrink considerably in the coming years.
The reason: Daimler wants to transform its nucleus, the main plant in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim with its 18,500 employees, into an electrical campus as quickly as possible. Specifically, three competence centers are to be set up at the Group’s most important engine location: one for batteries, one for electric drives and axles, and one for motors.
“Mercedes-Benz is planning investments in the three-digit million range for the transformation of the site,” Daimler announced on Friday. Untertürkheim is thus positioning itself for the future and “Electric first”.
Daimler wants to transform itself from a hardware provider to a software company and become a leader in electromobility. The combustion engine, on the other hand, is becoming obsolete. According to Handelsblatt information, the group could say goodbye to the internal combustion engine much earlier than previously planned.
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This is putting massive pressure on the Group’s engine locations in particular. Especially since Daimler boss Ola Källenius is pursuing a tight austerity course in order to reduce fixed costs. More than 20,000 of the 300,000 jobs worldwide are to be cut by 2025. The engine plant in Berlin-Marienfelde is becoming a digital campus.
In addition to two battery assemblies, new test rigs, a start-up factory for batteries, a “safety lab” and small series production of lithium-ion cells are to be located in the largest Mercedes-Benz powertrain factory in Untertürkheim. The next generation of electric motors will also be manufactured here, and from 2024 additional parts of the electric drive train (eATS) with twice the volume as originally planned will be added.
In return, however, the vertical range of manufacture and the number of units of conventional diesel and gasoline units and their components will be “gradually reduced”, explained Daimler. For example, part of the crankshaft production that was planned for Untertürkheim will be relocated to Jawor in Poland this year. There is also no need to set up a small series production line for four-cylinder engines in Stuttgart. Management and the works council have agreed on this.
The horror scenario, according to which up to 4,000 of the 18,500 jobs in Untertürkheim could be cut, is off the table with this agreement. At the same time, the reduction in the number of combustion engines “gradually leads to personnel adjustments,” explained Daimler.
Employees are protected from redundancies for operational reasons
It is still unclear exactly how many jobs the group intends to cut at its main plant in the next few years. But it should be a four-digit number, it is said in corporate circles. The workload for electrical components is simply significantly less than for a combustion engine. You have to take this into account.
“The details of the implementation of the planned structural adjustments will be worked out further together with the employee representatives in the coming weeks,” explained Daimler. The top priority here is a socially acceptable design.
Daimler employees in Germany are protected against redundancies for operational reasons until the end of 2029. The Group can therefore only reduce its workforce through voluntary measures such as severance payments, early retirement or partial retirement.
“With the implementation of our own campus with a focus on battery, battery cell and electric drive technology, we are clearly underlining our focus on electrification,” explained plant manager Frank Deiß. His goal is clear: “The top priority is to continue to set the tone for the drive system of the future.”
Michael Häberle, Head of the Works Council in Untertürkheim, is also satisfied: “With the negotiation package, we are consistently pushing the expansion of e-mobility and are doing justice to the changes brought about by the change in technology – at the same time we are still able to act in conventional drive systems.”
The agreement was preceded by months of negotiations. According to the works council, the talks that have been going on with the plant management since September 2020 about the future of the site have “never” been as difficult as this time. The management repeatedly accused the employees of a blockade attitude. Conversely, the works councils insisted on existing commitments and the preservation of as many jobs as possible.
The result of the negotiations that has now been achieved is an attempt to carefully, but at the same time as quickly as possible, shut down the construction of internal combustion engines and start up those of electric drives.
More: The end of the internal combustion engine is near – which manufacturers will withdraw from the technology and when