Daimler is set to produce the first in-house electric motor at its oldest plant in Berlin, the automaker said on Thursday.
The announcement offered relief to workers that were worried that the diesel motor production site was on the verge of job cuts.
Workers who feared for their positions after the automaker said in September 2020 its Berlin site would put an end to the production of the 6-cylinder diesel motor within a year would also be provided retraining in software and coding, the German automaker said.
About 450 of the plant’s 2,300-odd workers have applied to participate in a pilot 160-hour training course in software development, works council chairman Michael Rahmel said on a press call, with about fifteen selected for the first round of training.
Investment in the 120-year-old Berlin-Marienfelde plant will increase to a low three-digit million euro amount in the next six years, the automaker said.
The motor, known as an axial-flux motor and designed by the British startup YASA which Daimler bought this year, weighs a fraction of its diesel equivalent and can increase the range of an EV by up to 7%.
