Mercedes-Benz plant builds its one millionth commercial vehicle

29th October 2010

Following 45 years of production, the one millionth commercial vehicle rolled off the assembly line at Ludwigsfelde last month.  Coincidentally, it was also equipped with the one millionth engine produced at the nearby Mercedes-Benz plant in Berlin.

The milestone vehicle was a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.  More than 2,000 employees, political officials, and businesspeople took part in a special handover ceremony to the lucky customer, the Berlin Landesverkehrswacht traffic safety organisation.

For more than 60 years, the volunteers at Berlin Landesverkehrswacht have been helping all road users to become more safety conscious.  One of its main roles is to educate children about road traffic, and the Sprinter will support the organisation at schools and other events.

Ludwigsfelde has a long industrial tradition, dating back to the 1930s, and in the mid 1960s Daimler-Benz started production of two IFA commercial vehicle models: the W 50 and L 60.  Since 2006, it has been producing the current Sprinter model.  Altogether, more than €300 million have been invested in machinery and buildings for the project at the plant, including a new manufacturing line and state-of-the-art automated production equipment.