Warsaw – Daimler AG has reached a final decision for a new engine plant in Jawor, Poland, signing the property purchase agreement for the site with its Polish partners. For the official announcement of the project Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain Management, Beata Szydło, Prime Minister of Poland, and Mateusz Morawiecki, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister for Economic Development, met in Warsaw. The site will produce engines under the responsibility of the newly established company “ Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Poland” (MBMP). CEO will be Dr Andreas Schenkel.
“The capacity expansion in Poland reflects the increasingly international character of our powertrain production compound. This will lead to increased flexibility and efficiency within our worldwide production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars. With the new Mercedes-Benz engine plant in Jawor, we, Dr Schenkel, his team and our local partners, are on the right track to the successful and consistent implementation of our growth strategy,” stated Schäfer.
Daimler plans an investment of about 500 million euros in the new engine production plant in Jawor, around 70 kilometres west of Wrocław. “Daimler AG’s decision shows that Poland is an attractive market for foreign investors. The car industry in Poland is developing into the economy’s innovation hub, creating jobs for highly skilled workers in our country. We place particular emphasis on supporting innovative projects which generate added value for our economy and boost its competitiveness,” stated Morawiecki.
Jawor is the first production site of Mercedes-Benz Cars in Poland. The high-tech factory will produce four-cylinder engines for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars. The new plant in Jawor combines latest industry standards with industry 4.0 and will be benchmark in engine production.
Tadeusz Kościński, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development of Poland: “We support our foreign investors with a coordinated and professional system. We provide assistance at each stage of the project implementation, while the Government and all institutions are actively involved.”
Production at the new Daimler site is scheduled to start in 2019. Construction is due to begin in 2017. “Setting up the first plant of Mercedes-Benz Cars in Poland and managing engine production locally is going to be a very interesting and exciting challenge. I am particularly looking forward to working alongside my team of Polish and German colleagues,” stated Schenkel, who is taking over responsibility for the production site.
The graduate mechanical engineer and economist started his career at the former Daimler-Benz AG in 1996 as trainee on the Management Associate Programme in Untertürkheim, Germany. Subsequently, he was responsible for various managing positions within the production organization of Mercedes-Benz Cars, including head of rear axle assembly and head of MPS Offices (“Mercedes-Benz Production System”). Recently, the 49-year-old has been in charge of chassis planning for the central production planning of Mercedes-Benz Cars at the Untertürkheim plant.
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