Mercedes-Benz celebrated the start of series production of the Mercedes-Benz VLE at its Vitoria plant in Spain with a special event. In addition to Thomas Klein, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, and Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, the ceremony was attended by Jordi Hereu, Spain’s Minister of Industry and Tourism, and Imanol Pradales, President of the Basque Autonomous Community. Mercedes-Benz is thus underlining the industrial, strategic and regional significance of the production site, making the transformation of the Vitoria plant one of Mercedes-Benz Vans’ most significant industrial future projects in Europe.
The start of production marks an important milestone and, at the same time, the beginning of a new phase for Mercedes-Benz Vans in Vitoria. With the VLE, the Vitoria site is, for the first time, manufacturing a vehicle based on the newly developed, modular and scalable Van Architecture. In future, this architecture will form the technological basis for the entire Mercedes-Benz Vans product portfolio – in both the private and commercial sectors. The Vitoria plant is therefore the first site in Mercedes-Benz’s global production network to build the new VLE in series. The Fuzhou plant in China will follow at the end of the year, producing vehicles specifically for the Chinese market.
