2015 was always going to be a special year for Mercedes-Benz’s Sindelfingen plant as it celebrated its centenary, but close to 2016, another important milestone was reached.
The iconic Mercedes-Benz factory near Stuttgart began its activity in 1915, only then it was building airplanes and airplane engines. Production switched to vehicle bodies after the war ended, but it wasn’t until 1946 that Mercedes started building complete cars in Sindelfingen.
Ever since the Mercedes-Benz 220 model was introduced in 1951, this plant has been assembling the company’s luxury limousines, including all the predecessors of the S-Class and this current generation.
Now, on its centenary, the Sindelfingen plant also celebrated the assembly of its 20 millionth car. In case you need a reference as to how many cars that means, Mercedes-Benz is happy to oblige: arranged in a row, these cars would circle the globe two and a half times. To be fair, Mercedes is cheating a little here since these were usually rather long cars...
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, was there to receive the car as it rolled off the production line. The welcoming committee for the jubilee car - which happened to be an S500 Plug-In Hybrid - was completed by Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain Management.
20,000,000 proved to be a recurring number for Mercedes-Benz these past days, as the German manufacturer also reached this number in Facebook fans, making this the biggest fan community in the company’s history. Nothing on how many times they would go around the world, though.
The lucky number 20,0000,000 car will be used by fans and employees for special occasions, documenting each of these outings and posting them on social media.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Dieter Zetsche said, “The twenty-million cars from the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen would stretch two and a half times around the world. For Mercedes-Benz, this jubilee is a historic number. Each of these twenty million vehicles stands for a satisfied Mercedes-Benz customer - that is a great evidence of the trust placed in our brand. At the same time, it obliges us to continue in the same way and to not reduce our efforts.”
Watch the video here -->> https://youtu.be/JOTyZkkSpRU
Markus Schäfer continued, “We are confident that we will produce the next twenty million cars a lot faster. By 2020, we will invest a total of 1.5 billion euros in an ultramodern and flexible production facility here in Sindelfingen. This will allow us to offer our customers even more options for individualization and to safeguard our top quality,” he said. “Our focus continues to be on our workforce - we are reducing the degree of automation. At the same time, we are applying modern robots that work hand in hand with our employees without a protective fence, and which assist them with strenuous tasks.”