Mercedes-Benz: China's R&D can lead the world

Credit: Ti Gong

Mercedes-Benz has upgraded its Shanghai R&D Center and officially put its brand-new building in Jinqiao, the Pudong New Area, into use with an inauguration ceremony on Friday attended by government officials and company representatives.

With a total investment of 69 million yuan (US$9.5 million) and a gross floor area of 7,400 square meters, the building was built in just one year.

"I am amazed by this China speed," said Hubertus Troska, a member of the board of directors of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and responsible for China.

The building consists of innovation spaces, laboratories, test shops, and other areas for efficient development of hardware and software.

Mercedes-Benz signed a memorandum of cooperation with Shanghai Jinqiao Authority and Jinqiao Group last October, with the three parties establishing a long-term cooperating relationship in the field of autonomous driving and intelligent networked vehicles.

"China has become one of the core drivers in terms of innovation in the global automotive industry. Over the years, we have continuously increased our investment in R&D in China," said Troska.

Credit: Ti Gong

Troska believes that in the future, China's R&D will lead the world.

Over the past five years, Mercedes-Benz has invested a total of 10.5 billion yuan in R&D in China, especially in cutting-edge areas such as electrification and intelligence.

"The average age of consumers who buy Mercedes-Benz in China is 36 years old, much younger than 50 years old in Germany and the United States, making it our youngest customer group globally. This shows that the Chinese market has tremendous potential," he said.

He hopes that the young Chinese R&D team will help Mercedes-Benz to build more advanced and comfortable technology with Chinese speed to better meet the needs of the Chinese market.

The Chinese R&D network is now the most comprehensive R&D team in the Mercedes-Benz Group outside of Germany in terms of areas covered.

Credit: Ti Gong

Markus Schäfer, a board member and chief technology officer also agreed on the importance of the Chinese R&D team.

"Working closely with our R&D network around the world, the Chinese R&D team is continuing to shape the present and future of Mercedes-Benz's industry-leading technological innovations," he said.

Troska told reporters that he spoke with Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz, during his trip to China earlier this week along with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, sharing their opinion on opposition to trade barriers which targeted China, as both of them attached great importance to the Chinese market.

"I hope that Chinese cars in Germany can also have the same market opportunity as Mercedes-Benz in the Chinese market. The competition should always be free and fair," he said.

"I have great respect and admiration for the domestic car companies, I think they work very hard and have excellent results. And exactly this also pushes us to keep innovating."

In 2023, Mercedes-Benz sold 765,000 vehicles in China, accounting for 29.58 percent of the company's global sales share, making China again Mercedes-Benz's No. 1 regional market.