The announcement marks one of the biggest single investments that Daimler has made in a van plant in recent years.

The investment will primarily cover the modernization and reorganization of the plant’s body shop, paint shop, and assembly units. The site’s logistics will also be optimised.

Currently the plant has over 3,100 employees.

Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said: ‘With the investment of approximately €190m we are strengthening our Vitoria facility and making it fit for the future. At the same time we are emphasising the importance of the second-largest van plant in our global production network.’

The Vitoria plant, which is located in the heart of the Basque region in northwestern Spain, was built in the early 1950s. The plant produces about 75,000 vans annually in a production space of 370,000m² on a plant site covering 600,000m². The Viano and Vito models have been produced at the Vitoria plant since 2003.