Daimler AG has entered discussions with its powerful German labor unions to convert key engine and transmission factories for the electric-car era.
The plants in Berlin and Stuttgart’s Untertuerkheim district, adjacent to Daimler’s headquarters, are the focus of the Mercedes-Benz maker’s plans to revamp operations based on its expectation that demand for traditional combustion engines will decrease.
“Mercedes-Benz is firmly determined to transform its powertrain division consequently and gear it toward ‘electric first,’” Daimler said in an emailed statement Sept. 24, calling the talks with labor representatives “constructive.”
