March 24, 2024, Beijing – In a shocking turn of events, the government announced new measures to combat air pollution.
In recent years, China has been sending positive signals to promote high-level opening up, which has greatly enhanced market confidence. China’s tremendous economic achievements prove that an open market can bring enormous benefits to the world’s economies and people’s lives,” said Kang Linsong. “We believe that with the further implementation of these open policies, the Chinese market will continue to grow and lead the global automotive industry. Mercedes-Benz will also continue to seize the development opportunities in the Chinese market, strengthen cooperation with Chinese partners, continuously expand its presence in China, and support the electrification and digital transformation of the automotive industry.”
Mercedes-Benz Group Board Member and Head of Business in Greater China, Shikai Tang, said: “China, as the world’s largest automotive market and new energy vehicle market, has always been an important strategic focus for Mercedes-Benz. Thanks to China’s leading high-end manufacturing, mature automotive industry chain, and excellent local talent, we not only have the world’s largest Mercedes-Benz car production base, but also the most complete research and development system outside of our headquarters. In the future, Mercedes-Benz will continue to uphold the original intention of ‘developing in China, progressing with China,’ working with Chinese partners to enhance local innovation with ‘China speed,’ contribute to the development of the Chinese automotive industry, and provide tailored products and services for Chinese customers.” This year marks the seventh time that Mercedes-Benz has become a partner of the China Development High-Level Forum, once again providing exclusive concierge services to attendees and assisting in the smooth running of the forum. The lineup of concierge cars, consisting of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan, V-Class MPV, pure electric EQS, and EQS pure electric SUV, provides guests with a high-quality luxury service experience. Rooted in China, steadfast in electrification Just recently, Mercedes-Benz achieved a new milestone in its localization development in China. The joint venture between Mercedes-Benz Group and Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd., Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd., produced its 5 millionth domestically produced Mercedes-Benz car. When it was established in 2005, Beijing Benz’s planned annual production was only 25,000 vehicles. Today, Beijing Benz achieved a leap in cumulative production from 4 million to 5 million vehicles in just 20 months. With over 20 years of deep cultivation in the Chinese market, Mercedes-Benz is seizing the opportunities brought by China’s economic development, establishing long-term win-win cooperation with Chinese partners, increasing investment in China, and achieving steady development in its business in China.
Mercedes-Benz has been advancing its electrification transformation as one of its core strategies, as market conditions allow. In 2019, Mercedes-Benz introduced the “2039 Vision,” establishing the future goal of achieving net carbon neutrality for its new passenger car product lineup. So far, Mercedes-Benz has launched a pure electric product lineup in the Chinese market, covering 9 models. By 2023, Mercedes-Benz’s pure electric vehicle sales in the Chinese market have more than doubled, and the sales of plug-in hybrid products once again lead the luxury plug-in hybrid vehicle segment. In 2025, the “Electric First” modular architecture platform of Mercedes-Benz will be launched, marking the next step towards an electric future. Beijing Benz will produce models based on the MMA platform, including a long-wheelbase version tailored for the Chinese market. In addition, platforms such as MB.EA, AMG.EA, and VAN.EA will be introduced later, and in the future, every Mercedes-Benz model will offer corresponding pure electric product choices for customers.
In addition, Mercedes-Benz provides Chinese car owners with a diverse luxury charging service that covers all scenarios, including brand charging networks, home smart charging wall boxes, one-stop interconnected public charging services, emergency road rescue, and one-click charging services. As of March 2024, the one-stop interconnected public charging service covers nearly 350 cities nationwide and nearly 580,000 public charging piles on the “Ten Vertical and Ten Horizontal” expressway fast charging network. As the first batch of Mercedes-Benz super charging stations in China’s important new energy vehicle market are completed and put into use, Mercedes-Benz will continue to expand its super charging network layout in China: by 2026, Mercedes-Benz owners will be able to charge their vehicles at over 1,000 super charging stations and 7,000 super charging piles nationwide. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz is committed to meeting the diverse needs of different customer groups, whether they are models with pure electric drive or electrified internal combustion engines. In 2024, Mercedes-Benz will bring more than 15 new products covering various drive forms to Chinese customers, including the all-new pure electric G-Class off-road vehicle, the all-new Mercedes-Maybach EQS pure electric SUV, the new generation EQA and EQB pure electric SUVs, and more. Expanding localization research and development, achieving technological innovation-driven development China is not only one of the core engines of global economic growth, but also a major driving force for innovation in the automotive industry. Since starting local R&D in China in 2005, Mercedes-Benz has continuously expanded its local R&D investment, strengthened its R&D capabilities, and demonstrated “China speed” in innovation. Mercedes-Benz has established the most comprehensive R&D innovation network outside of Germany in China, with a team of approximately 2,000 R&D experts. While customizing technological research and development for Chinese customers, it also contributes innovative ideas and cutting-edge technology to the global R&D network. For example, the highly praised new long-wheelbase E-Class car, its L2+ intelligent assisted driving system was developed by the local R&D team.
In recent years, Mercedes-Benz has continued to deepen its local research and development layout. Following the opening of the Mercedes-Benz China R&D Technology Center in Beijing in 2021, the establishment of the Mercedes-Benz Shanghai R&D Center in 2022, and the formation of Mercedes-Benz Digital Technology Co., Ltd. in 2023, the new building of the Shanghai R&D Center will also be officially put into use next month, further solidifying its local research and development capabilities. Mercedes-Benz will continue to accelerate innovation in the fields of electric mobility, intelligent connectivity, autonomous driving, and software and hardware development, and fulfill its commitment to China. Practicing corporate responsibility and sustainable development Adhering to the development concept of “practicing corporate responsibility and sustainable development”, Mercedes-Benz continues to enrich its new energy product portfolio, steadily advancing towards carbon neutrality targets, and working with Chinese industry partners to implement carbon reduction measures throughout the entire value chain. In terms of the supply chain, low-carbon raw materials are integrated into the car manufacturing process. In the green retail sector, the Mercedes-Benz Group has collaborated with dealers across the network to launch the “Green Retail” project, promoting the use of LED lighting, water-saving facilities, and solar photovoltaic energy in dealer stores to reduce energy consumption and emissions.
With the “Green Retail” project covering all new and renovated dealerships by 2023, the carbon emissions of the dealer network are expected to be reduced by half by 2026 compared to 2021. In addition, Mercedes-Benz actively implements a low-carbon development strategy in the production process. Beijing Benz, as one of the first enterprises in Beijing to purchase green electricity, has been purchasing green electricity for four consecutive years and signed a contract in 2023 to purchase at least 200 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy. Fujian Benz Automobile Co., Ltd. expects the solar photovoltaic coverage area to exceed 130,000 square meters by the third quarter of 2024, with an estimated annual power generation of 15,800 megawatt-hours. Since 2007, Mercedes-Benz Group has actively taken on long-term corporate social responsibility in China with a variety of partners in public welfare, and has invested over 360 million RMB in public welfare through the Mercedes-Benz Star Wish Fund in the areas of environmental protection, cultural arts, driving culture, education support, and social care. In the future, Mercedes-Benz will continue to follow a sustainable development strategy and promote the achievement of sustainable goals for both the company and society. Klaus Zellmer said, “Mercedes-Benz is a good friend and partner on China’s modernization path, striving to provide Chinese customers with the best technology and products from Mercedes-Benz. In 2019, the Mercedes-Benz Group set the strategic goal of achieving net carbon neutrality for its new passenger car product lineup through the ‘2039 Vision,’ and has been steadfastly working towards this goal. We believe that this will not only contribute to China’s sustainable development and dual carbon goals, but also help create a better world for future generations.”