During the online event Meet Mercedes Digital, the new head of the company said that he sees signs of recovery in the automotive market. Most car dealerships around the world have reopened and shoppers are returning even faster than expected. This was stated by the chairman of the board of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz Ola Kalenius.
Mercedes-Benz sees the first positive signs in the automotive market. From April 20, the company will gradually increase production at its factories, and this is necessary, since from June all automotive production in the world will work again at full capacity, the head of the company said.
The company said that the health and safety of employees is of paramount importance, everyone uses masks and avoid situations that are dangerous for infection. According to Kalenius, 100,000 employees continue to work from home with 0.5 million calls per week.
The company assumes that the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences will continue indefinitely. Mercedes specialists say that everyone needs to return to the normal rhythm of work with the «new standards».
In China, Mercedes-Benz’s largest market, sales are gradually returning to normal levels, higher in April than the previous year and continuing into May. Kalenius considers one of the most important lessons of the current situation to be that individual mobility is and remains a valuable asset.
According to him, the car is a protected space that provides independence and freedom. Mercedes-Benz will continue to work with new technologies to preserve this valuable commodity. The company will maintain its green car and CO2 neutral production program.
By 2022, more than 30 car, van and truck companies worldwide will be CO2-free. The company confirms a plan to fully transition to CO2-free vehicles by 2039. An important component of the company’s plan is the production of neutral carbon dioxide batteries, taking into account the supply chain.
The flagship electric vehicle EQS, currently in production, will feature CO2-neutral batteries. Now the company has two plants for the production of batteries for hybrids and electric vehicles. The plant in East Germany (Kaments) was opened in 2018 as a development center for Mercedes-Benz’s global battery production network.
The network consists of nine factories in which the company is investing 1 billion euros. It is currently a zero CO2 company that manufactures batteries for Mercedes-Benz Cars hybrid vehicles and EQC electric vehicles and has produced over half a million units so far.
In 2019, the company sold 2.24 million vehicles worldwide (up 1.3%). A new plant is being built in the US, with several more to be built in Europe. This year, the company plans to open a high-tech Factory 56 plant in Sindelfingen, Germany, which will produce the new S-Class and then the EQS. By the end of 2020, the company plans to launch production of 5 electric vehicles and 20 hybrid versions of its models.