The €400m engine facility builds on Daimler’s partnership with BAIC, with the two firms having run their production joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive Corporation (BBAC) since 2006.

The new facility will be used to produce four and six-cylinder engines for the passenger cars produced at BBAC and Mercedes-Benz vans produced locally at the joint venture Fujian Benz Automotive Co Ltd (FBAC). Based on a flexible production-line concept, it will have an annual capacity of 250,000 units in the initial phase

Hubertus Troska, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Greater China and Chairman and CEO of Daimler Greater China, said: ‘The investment of around €400 million in our first-ever passenger-car engine plant outside of Germany demonstrates both our commitment to serving our Chinese customers even better with the latest technology locally made and our confidence in Mercedes-Benz’s prosperous future here in China.’

‘We are now building the heart of our Mercedes-Benz cars also here in Beijing, underlining our integrated and strong localization strategy,’ added Frank Deiss, president and CEO of BBAC. ‘The production follows our globally acknowledged quality standards and processes, further strengthening Mercedes-Benz Car’s global production footprint.’