Manufacturing · Profile from Manufacturing Research Companion: Companies, Strategic Moves, and Technical Studies

Mercedes-Benz Group

The Stuttgart maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and vans, and the oldest name in the car industry (Benz's 1886 patent car). Until 2021 it was part of Daimler AG, which also made trucks and buses. Its manufacturing story turns on luxury margins versus scale, and the cost of a merger without process fit. In 1998 Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler for ~$36bn (most often cited) and in 2007 sold 80.1% to Cerberus for $7.4bn. It built its first US car plant at Vance, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama (production from 1997), and a battery plant at nearby Woodstock (2022). In May 2024 the Vance workforce voted against the UAW, 2,642 to 2,045. In 2019–20 it paid €870m in a German diesel case and agreed ~$1.5bn of US penalties. In Dec 2021 it spun off Daimler Truck, and in Feb 2022 it renamed itself Mercedes-Benz Group (from memory, verify). In 2024 it stepped back from an "EV-first" pledge. Its Chinese profits fell sharply in 2024–26: 2025 net profit almost halved to €5.33bn, and in Oct 2026 Mercedes cut its 2026 guide for Cars' adjusted return on sales to 2–3%.

At a glance

Founded: Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (1890) and Benz & Cie. (1883) merged in 1926 as Daimler-Benz (from memory, verify) (from memory, verify)
Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany
Ownership / structure: Listed (Frankfurt: MBG). Large holders include Geely's Li Shufu (~9.7%, from memory, verify), BAIC (~9.98%, from memory, verify) and Kuwait's sovereign fund (from memory, verify). Codetermined supervisory board (19)
Leadership (2026): Ola Källenius, chairman of the Board of Management since May 2019 (from memory, verify)
Segments: Mercedes-Benz Cars (incl. Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach, G-Class), Mercedes-Benz Vans, Mercedes-Benz Mobility (financial services)
Scale: 2025: net profit €5.331bn (2024: €10.409bn; −48.8%), EPS €5.34 (€10.19); group revenue ~€132.2bn (reported); Cars adjusted EBIT €4.8bn (2024: €8.7bn), adjusted return on sales 5.0% (8.1%), 6.1% excluding tariffs; the "Next Level Performance" programme contributed >€3.5bn to 2025 EBIT (company, 12 Feb 2026). 2026: Cars adjusted RoS guided at 3–5% in Feb, confirmed in July, cut to 2–3% on 28 Oct 2026; medium-term target 8–10% (company and press). Q3 2026: group revenue ~€30.7bn (−4.5%), adjusted EBIT ~€1.78bn (−15%) (Teleborsa, single source); reported group EBIT
Plants (selected): Vance (Tuscaloosa County), Alabama (GLE, GLS, EQE/EQS SUVs, from memory, verify); Woodstock (Bibb County), Alabama battery plant (opened 2022, from memory, verify); Ladson/Charleston, South Carolina (Sprinter vans, from memory, verify); Sindelfingen, Bremen, Rastatt, Kecskemét (Hungary); Beijing (BBAC JV with BAIC); East London (South Africa) (list from memory, verify)
Signature moves (incl. failures): Tuscaloosa (1997); the DaimlerChrysler merger and its unwinding (1998–2007, failure); Smart and the small-car problem (1998–); the 2019–20 diesel penalties; the Daimler Truck spin-off (2021); the Woodstock battery plant (2022); the UAW vote at Vance (2024); the EV-first reversal (2024); the China slump and "Next Level Performance" (2025–26)

9 strategic moves analysed

Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.

1997
Tuscaloosa Plant
New plant (greenfield) / US footprint — Mercedes's first passenger-car assembly plant in the US
1998
DaimlerChrysler Merger and 2007 Unwinding
Merger ("merger of equals", in practice a takeover) — a failure — followed by divestment to private equity
1998
Smart and the Small Car Problem
Product launch (largely a failure in profit terms) and new plant; later a joint venture with Geely (2019–20)
2019
Diesel Penalties
Regulatory action — German administrative fine and US civil settlement over diesel emissions
2021
Daimler Truck Spin Off
Spin-off — separation of the truck and bus business into an independently listed company
2022
Woodstock Battery Plant
New plant / make-vs-buy — in-house battery-pack assembly next to the Vance car plant, with cells bought from suppliers
2024
EV First Reversal
Strategy pivot — softening the 2021 "ready to go all-electric by the end of the decade" ambition and extending combustion and hybrid models into the 2030s
2024
UAW Vote at Vance
Labour — an NLRB union election in which the company campaigned against unionisation and the workforce voted no
2025
China Slump and Next Level Performance
Restructuring / cost programme in response to a profit slump driven by China, tariffs and currency

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