- Energy savings of up to 40 percent.
- Completely newly developed painting process requires fewer systems and significantly reduces resource consumption.
- Over 400 truck cabs can be manufactured per day in accordance with the highest quality requirements of Mercedes-Benz Trucks.
Wörth am Rhein - The Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth is gradually switching to an innovative and more environmentally friendly process for painting its truck cabs: The new cab painting process marks the launch of a production technology that makes it possible to significantly improve the CO2 footprint of Mercedes-Benz truck production. Painting is the largest single energy consumer within production. In the future, up to 40 percent of this energy can be saved thanks to the new cab paintwork.
Andreas Bachhofer, Head of the Wörth site and Mercedes-Benz Trucks Production: "We have succeeded in developing and implementing one of the most innovative painting processes in the world at the Wörth site. In addition to the conversion of our assembly lines for the production of vehicles with alternative drive systems, the new cab painting process is one of the biggest changes for our production. We are investing substantially in the site in the next few years and are setting an important component for the future production of the largest Mercedes-Benz truck plant."
New painting process requires less equipment and material
So-called ultra-high-solid paint materials are the key to the new painting process, which is significantly leaner, more energy-efficient and therefore more sustainable. Thanks to the new materials, wet-on-wet application of the paints is possible and drying between the application of the various layers is no longer necessary. After priming, subsequent coats of paint can be applied completely in just one single paint box. At the same time, the new systems are extremely efficient when applying the paint and require significantly less paint material. The number of painting stations required and the associated energy consumption are also significantly reduced: Five space- and energy-saving boxes and two dryers will replace 15 painting stations and four dryers in the future. In the new system, the driver's cabs can be dried without fossil fuels.
Conversion during ongoing production until 2026
The completely newly developed painting process will be introduced in stages. In the first stage, one of the new paint booths has been installed before the successive conversion of the existing lines. The conversion of the paint shop is expected to be completed by 2026 and will take place during ongoing truck production at the Wörth plant. Over 400 truck cabs can be manufactured per day in accordance with the highest quality standards of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, even during the conversion phase. After they have been painted, the cabs are sent to the interior fitting and are afterwards assembled on the chassis, which is the so-called marriage in production.
Several levers for production
The Wörth plant has ambitious environmental targets. With the new cab paintwork, it is taking a big step closer to achieving them. Overall, numerous adaptations are being made to the production processes in order to save energy. Since 2022, the plant, like all other European sites, has been carbon-neutral - among other things by using electricity from solar, wind and hydroelectric power. Another important component of the "Green Production" initiative is the expansion of self-supply from renewable energies, for example thanks to photovoltaic systems and participation in the joint venture WärmeWerk Wörth which aims to examine a climate-neutral energy supply using geothermal energy. The plant is thus working actively and consistently at all levels to implement the sustainable business strategy.
About the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth
The largest truck assembly plant of Mercedes-Benz Trucks in Wörth am Rhein was founded in 1963. Since the beginning, around 4.4 million trucks have been built here. Today, these are the Actros, Arocs and Atego series. The Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks Econic, Unimog and Zetros are also built in Wörth. Series production of the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 300/400 for distribution transport started in 2021. The second Mercedes-Benz eEconic electric series truck for municipal use followed in 2022. In November 2024 Daimler Truck celebrated the start of series production of the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 for long-distance transport in Wörth. With around 10,000 employees, the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth is the second-largest employer in Rhineland-Palatinate.