A Look Inside the Mercedes-Benz R&D Center in Beijing
Earlier in the week, Mercedes-Benz opened its doors to a brand new research and development center,
Earlier in the week, Mercedes-Benz opened its doors to a brand new research and development center, which also housed a new concept vehicle — the Vision G-Code. Inside the €110 million EUR facility a number of key staff including 350 engineers (soon to be raised to 500) will work on fine-tuning its automobiles for the Chinese consumer in attempts to facilitate the growing market, all while closing the gap between competitors such as Audi and BMW. The event also saw a number of prototype models, including some of the more lifestyle-oriented products in development.
On display at the main podium was the all-new Vision G-Code, a hybrid of many types. Using “multi-voltaic” paint, the G-Code is powered by both an electric and supercharged hydrogen combustion engine which gathers its power and fuel via wind, solar and kinetic energy. As the night rounded out, design director Olivier Boulay also announced his successor Hubert Lee, the former head of Benz’s Carlsbad, California studio. Armed with ambitious goals, we are seeing an exciting direction for the iconic automobile manufacturer as it focuses in on the Chinese market.
