Daimler has invested €190 million to
upgrade its van plant in Vitoria, Spain to produce the next generation Vito.
Following the
summer shutdown, production will begin of the next generation Mercedes-Benz Vito
at the facility, which has also just seen another model changeover for the new
Mercedes-Benz V-Class factory. The new MPV goes on sale in June.
In recent years, Daimler AG
has introduced a series of modernization measures at the Vitoria plant, the
most important of which were preparations to produce the next generation of
medium-sized vans.
Production of the new
Mercedes-Benz V-Class MPV, launched in March 2014, will be followed this fall
by production of the new Vito, the company's top-of-the-line model for
commercial customers.
The latest project has involved
upgrading and retooling the body shop, the paint shop and final assembly of the
new medium-sized vans.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain (who abdicated on 2 June, several days after his visit to Vitoria) recently
visited the plant to obtain first-hand impressions of the plant's optimised logistics
processes.
King Juan Carlos was welcomed
by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of Daimler AG and head of
Mercedes-Benz Cars, who said: “We have invested €190 million here to create the
foundation of a bright future in Vitoria."
Volker Mornhinweg, head of
Mercedes-Benz Vans, added: "Our plant in Vitoria plays an important role
as a competence centre and a leading production plant for our medium-sized
vans.”
The Vitoria plant employs
3,500 and indirectly generates about 13,000 jobs in the region.
Emilio
Titos is head of the Mercedes-Benz factory in Vitoria while Frank Klein is head
of production at Mercedes-Benz Vans. José Luís López-Schümmer is chairman and
managing director of Daimler’s Spanish subsidiary.
This year the plant, located
in the heart of the Basque region in north-western Spain, celebrates its 60
years as a vehicle production location. The first vehicle rolled off the
assembly line in 1954, when the plant was part of Auto Union. The former
Daimler-Benz AG acquired the facility in 1981.
Today the plant site, which
covers 600,000 square metres, has a production space of 370,000 square metres
and produces 75,000 vans annually for world-wide. The Vitoria plant is the
second-largest Daimler van production plant in the world and, being the latest
to come on atream, is probably the most advanced.
The Vitoria van plant is
also one of the most important industrial centres in the Basque region. In 2012
it accounted for 2.4 per cent of the Basque region's GDP and 7.4 per cent of
export volume.
Both Renault (with the Trafic) and Opel/Vauxhall with the Vivaro have launched new van products.
Meanwhile, it would be mentally rewarding to know the real hours per finished van bodyshell at Vitoria, Sandouvile and Luton for the Vito, Trafic and Vivaro respectively, as well as those for the finished product; not to mention the hourly labour rates for line workers at each plant. For good measure the results could be teamed with figures yielded by Nissan's van plant in Barcelona and Ford's Transit van plant in Turkey to provide a more throughout analysis of line performance and costs.
Both Renault (with the Trafic) and Opel/Vauxhall with the Vivaro have launched new van products.
Meanwhile, it would be mentally rewarding to know the real hours per finished van bodyshell at Vitoria, Sandouvile and Luton for the Vito, Trafic and Vivaro respectively, as well as those for the finished product; not to mention the hourly labour rates for line workers at each plant. For good measure the results could be teamed with figures yielded by Nissan's van plant in Barcelona and Ford's Transit van plant in Turkey to provide a more throughout analysis of line performance and costs.
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