Wörth am Rhein – The Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth is celebrating a special anniversary: the Unimog has been produced here for 20 years. After the vehicle had been manufactured at the sister plant in Gaggenau for many years, production of the universal engine-powered machine moved from Gaggenau to the Wörth plant in 2002. As a so-called special truck for particularly challenging tasks, the Unimog has since been produced in the largest plant for Mercedes-Benz trucks with a high proportion of manual assembly, which allows a particularly high degree of flexibility in the processes.
To this day, the Unimog is still associated with the Gaggenau plant, where it was produced for over 50 years. The Unimog-specific portal axles, transmissions and numerous other components are still manufactured in Gaggenau. Today, the Unimog Museum is also located near the former production site. Since the start of production in 1951, over 370,000 Unimogs have rolled off the production lines at the Gaggenau and Wörth plants.
Customers use their Unimog models in more diverse ways than almost any other vehicle. For example, this all-rounder among commercial vehicles clears snow from the tracks and tows away broken-down trains for public transport companies, it is used to maintain green areas and as an ambulance in the most difficult terrain. By climbing the world’s highest volcano, the Unimog also holds the world altitude record for wheeled vehicles. Its popularity and reliability is also underlined by the readers’ choice of the OFF ROAD magazine: For the 18th time in a row, the Unimog was chosen as “Off-road vehicle of the year” this year.
About the Mercedes-Benz Wörth plant
Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ largest truck assembly plant was founded in Wörth am Rhein in 1963 and produces the Mercedes-Benz Actros, Arocs and Atego trucks. The Mercedes-Benz special trucks Econic and Zetros are also built here alongside the Unimog. In 2021 series production of the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros was launched; the second series-produced e-truck Mercedes-Benz eEconic followed in 2022. The facility on the Rhine is also the center of competence for the global Mercedes-Benz Trucks production network. With about 10,000 employees, the Mercedes-Benz Wörth plant is the second-largest employer in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.