Milestones Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant

 

Werk Sindelfingen der Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. Luftaufnahme aus dem Jahr 1918. (Fotosignatur der Mercedes-Benz Classic Archive: A46205) // Sindelfingen plant of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. Aerial view from 1918. (Photo signature of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives: A46205)

Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen. Exterior view from May 1951. (Photo signature of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives: SI51679)

Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen. Photo of production from 1973, assembly conveyor in building 38. (Photo signature of the Mercedes

Milestones Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant

• 1915 Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) acquires 51 hectares of land in Sindelfingen for an aircraft factory and an automobile body plant.
• 1916 Construction of the first aircraft assembly hall begins. The building still exists today.
• 1917 Delivery of the first aircraft with Daimler engines from Sindelfingen.
• 1918 The plant, previously under the management of Untertürkheim, becomes an independent operation.
• 1918 The Untertürkheim body department begins moving to Sindelfingen.
• 1919 Production of car bodies begins. The first vehicle is the Mercedes-Knight 16/45 hp.
• 1919 Sindelfingen produces furniture as emergency products.
• 1924 After a study trip to the USA, Wilhelm Friedle, who later became director of operations, became involved in modernising the body shop based on the model of the Ford Motor Company.
• 1928 Conversion of the press shop from manual single-part production to series production with deep-drawing presses.
• 1930s Introduction and restructuring of assembly line production.
• 1946 The 170 V (W 136) is built as a flatbed, panel van and ambulance, from 1947 also as a four-door saloon. This marks the start of passenger car production after the Second World War II.
• 1952 The 100,000th Sindelfingen passenger car since 1946 is built, a Mercedes-Benz 170 S (W 136).
• 1953 Premiere of the Mercedes-Benz 180 (W 120) "Ponton" in Sindelfingen. First Mercedes-Benz passenger car with self-supporting body.
• 1954 Start of production of the 300 SL (W 198), from 1955 also of the 190 SL (W 121).
• 1959 Start of the first systematic crash tests in Sindelfingen.
• 1962 The one millionth passenger car in post-war production from Sindelfingen leaves the assembly line: a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE "tail fin" (W 111).
• 1966 Sindelfingen produces more than 200,000 passenger cars in one year for the first time
• 1969 In May, for the first time the plant produces more than 1,000 vehicles a day produced at the plant.
• 1971 2nd International ESV Conference in Sindelfingen, Mercedes-Benz presents the ESF 05 experimental safety vehicle.
• 1972 Europe's first fully automatic robot transfer line goes into operation in the body shop
• 1972 Production start of the 116 luxury class series, called "S-Class" for the first time.
• 1976 Production capacity is to increase to 430,000 vehicles per year by 1986.
• 1979 Partial automation of the production lines is introduced with the start of production of the S-Class 126 series.
• 1981 Opening of the new customer centre for the personal collection of new vehicles.
• 1994 Ground-breaking ceremony for a new development and preparation centre.
• 1994 Kick-off for the nationwide switch to water-based body paints.
• 1995 Opening of the world's first designo consulting centre.
• 1998 Inauguration of the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center.
• 2000 Inauguration of the most modern virtual reality centre in the automotive industry.
• 2002 Opening of the Centre of Excellence for the luxury brands Maybach and SLR McLaren brands.
• 2002 Transport by rail with closed car transport trains begins.
• 2006 New start-up factory for prototype construction and next-generation vehicles.
• 2009 Entry into plastics processing for body parts with the CL-Class rear lid of the C 216 series made of glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP).
• 2014 The production method of heat-assisted forming (HEF) is used for the first time in the start-up of the new S-Class Coupé.
• 2014 Start of production of the Mercedes-AMG GT (model series 197).
• 2015 Celebration of the centenary. The site has around 37,000 employees.
• 2015 The 20 millionth vehicle is built in Sindelfingen, an S 500 e Plug-in Hybrid from the 222 series.
• 2016 Opening of the Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety (TFS).
• 2018 Starting signal for Factory 56 for the highest possible flexibility and efficiency.
• 2020 Opening of Factory 56 and start of production of the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class (model series 223).
• 2021 Start of production of the EQS (model series 297): the first electric luxury saloon from Factory 56.
• 2022 Start of production of the latest generation of the GLC (model series 254) and opening of the Electric Software Hub