Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Cars has started E-Class assembly for the local market in a new factory in Moscovia, Russia.
SUV models will follow.
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The automaker has spent EUR250m (US$280.9m) on the plant in the Moscow region which employs 1,000 people and uses industry 4.0 technology.
"Moscovia is another component of our strategy of producing where our customers are," said Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche.
The plant was built in less than two years and is around 40km (25 miles) northwest of Moscow. It covers about 85 hectares in the Esipovo industrial estate across an area of 85 hectares.
Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing RUS was created specifically to build and run the plant.
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By GlobalDataThe E-Class sedans and SUVs the plant builds are the best selling Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in Russia where the automaker had more than doubled passenger car sales in a decade.
Driverless transportation systems convey bodies between the subsections. Automated shopping cart systems are also used in assembly. Human-robot cooperation installs the windscreen without a protective 'fence'.
Environment friendly and resource-saving ideas include paperless documentation, emission-free electric forklifts, heat recovery in the buildings and the use of water-soluble coatings.
A 'One-Roof Concept' pools all the work steps in one location and facilitates short paths with fast, direct communication.
Glass walls serve as a connecting feature and make the space between the workplaces in administration and production transparent.
Staff are predominantly local and were trained at other Mercedes plants worldwide and in cooperation with local vocational colleges.
Welding, painting, assembly, and quality checks of finished cars will be carried out in the new plant.
