Sixty years after the first LP 608, Mercedes‑Benz Wörth celebrates 4.4 million trucks and a new era with eActros and eEconic production

Sixty years after the first LP 608, Mercedes‑Benz Wörth celebrates 4.4 million trucks and a new era with eActros and eEconic production

(IN BRIEF) Mercedes‑Benz is marking 60 years since the first full truck—a green LP 608—left its Wörth plant in July 1965. The site started in October 1963 with about 100 employees making cabs for other plants, but by 1965 became the central assembly location for Mercedes‑Benz trucks, while Gaggenau and Kassel focused on transmissions and axles and Mannheim on engines and buses. Initially planned as an aggregates plant, Wörth was reassigned to mass-produce all truck classes, achieving notable flexibility by assembling multiple model lines on one line. Over six decades, it has produced more than 4.4 million trucks, including over 800,000 CKD kits sent overseas. Current production includes Actros, Arocs, Atego and special trucks Econic, Unimog and Zetros. Electrification milestones include the eActros 300/400 (2021), eEconic (2022) and the eActros 600 for long-haul (series production start at the end of 2024).

(PRESS RELEASE) WORTH AM RHEIN, 23-Jul-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — A milestone with a twist: sixty years have passed since the very first complete truck rolled out of Mercedes‑Benz’s Wörth plant in July 1965—a green LP 608—and the site remains the backbone of the brand’s global truck production. Operations in Wörth actually began in October 1963 with roughly 100 employees, building cabs that were then shipped to Gaggenau for heavy trucks and to Mannheim for medium and light models. By 1965, however, Wörth had evolved into the central assembly hub for Mercedes‑Benz commercial vehicles, while Gaggenau and Kassel concentrated on transmissions and axles, and Mannheim on engines and bus manufacturing.

Originally conceived as a “plant for aggregates,” the facility’s role was redefined in the early 1960s when Daimler-Benz AG revamped its commercial vehicle strategy. Instead of supplying engines, Wörth was tasked with high-volume production across all truck classes, bringing both manufacturing and final assembly under one roof. From day one, multiple model series—from the so-called “light Wörther” to the “heavy Wörther”—moved down a single assembly line, a level of flexibility that was remarkable at the time.

More than six decades later, the numbers tell the story: over 4.4 million trucks have been built in Wörth, including more than 800,000 Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits shipped to overseas markets for final assembly on site. Today the plant produces the Actros, Arocs and Atego ranges, along with Mercedes‑Benz Special Trucks such as the Econic, Unimog and Zetros. The shift to electric mobility is well underway, too—series production of the battery-electric eActros 300/400 for distribution transport began in 2021, followed by the eEconic for municipal operations in 2022. At the end of 2024, Daimler Truck launched series production of the eActros 600 for long-distance haulage in Wörth, reinforcing the plant’s role as the company’s spearhead for both conventional and zero-emission trucks.

Media Contact:

Annika Pflüger
Spokesperson Mercedes-Benz Trucks Plants Wörth, Aksaray and Molsheim
annika.pflueger​@daimlertruck.com
+49 176 30968626

SOURCE: Daimler Truck AG