(Yicai) April 22 -- Mercedes-Benz Group’s research and development center in Shanghai recently opened a new building, which will help the German car giant's global push toward smart and electric cars. 

The 7,400-square-meter building cost CNY69 million (USD9.5 million) to contruct and has innovation spaces, laboratories, and workshops for hardware and software, Yicai learned from the Stuttgart-based carmaker.

The center’s upgrade shows that Mercedes-Benz China has entered a third phase to give back to the global group, Hubertus Troska, the group’s management board member responsible for Greater China, said to Yicai.

The Chinese R&D center has led the development of navigation and voice control functions which have been promoted for global use, Troska said. In the future, it will also participate in various key projects, including creating a vehicle operating system, plug-in hybrid batteries, and automated driving, he added.

China is Mercedes-Benz’s largest single market and biggest production site. The automaker kicked off its R&D activities in China in 2005, mostly focusing on production. The second phase began in 2010 to make localized products, helping the group launch long-wheelbase models specially built for the market, Troska said.

Mercedes-Benz spent CNY10.5 billion (USD1.4 billion) on research and development in China, its most comprehensive R&D setup outside of Germany, in the past five years. The Shanghai R&D center was established in March 2022, becoming the group’s second in the country after Beijing. The pair are dedicated to forward-looking design, electrification, smart cockpit, autonomous driving, and vehicle testing.

Mercedes-Benz will tap into the advantages of local talent, speed up local innovation, and lead more global R&D projects, Oliver Locher, senior executive vice president at Mercedes-Benz China Investment, said at the opening ceremony for the new building. It will also go on working with local tech firms to contribute to scientific and technological innovation in the industry, he added.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine