The words “downsizing” and “efficiency” may be popular words in the auto industry these days, but some automakers are still not giving up in building monster V-12 engines. Count Mercedes-AMG->ke8 in this group. In fact, demand for its V-12s is so strong that the company has decided to move the assembly of these engines to Daimler’s site in Mannheim, leaving behind its current space in Affalterbach.

The decision to shift the production of V-12s to Mannheim comes at a time when a significant number of Mercedes’->ke187 upper echelon models are powered by the V-12. Models like the SL65, S65 coupe and sedan, and the G65 all have the same V-12 engines under their respective hoods. Even Aston Martin->ke13 and Pagani,->ke66 to name a few, outsource these engines for their own models. Given the popularity of these models in the market today, it’s important for Mercedes to supply its customers with these models as fast and as efficient as they can. Moving the production of these engines to Mannheim will go a long way in accomplishing that.

According to Mercedes, AMG technicians who have all adopted the “one man, one engine” mantra to build these V-12 engines will continue to uphold the same philosophy. In effect, the engines will still be built since Mercedes-AMG has plenty of use for them. It’s just going to be built in a different facility, one that has more space for these engines to be built compared to the space technicians had to work with back in Affalterbach.

That said, the departure of the V-12 production in Affalterbach also frees up some space in that facility. Mercedes-AMG is expected to use that available space to expand its own production of V-8 engines.

Continue after the jump to read the whole story.

Why it matters

I can see why this is a big deal, even though some people I’ve talked to don’t understand it. According to them, Mercedes is transferring the production of its V-12 engines from one address to another. That’s it.

Granted, there are some people who might find this a little problematic, particularly those who are worried that changing facilities could lead to a drop in production quality. If it’s already working fine in one place, why move to it another? Seems like messing with something that already works, right?

The answer to that is space. Given the popularity of these V-12s, it’s important for Mercedes to meet the production demand for models that use the V-12s. Apparently, keeping it in Affalterbach won’t be enough to meet those demands so the decision was made to move it to a facility that had more space to accommodate the production. Technicians who have been assembling the V-12 engines in Affalterbach won’t be part of the move. Instead, they’ll move on to V-8 production while a separate assembly line, will be set up in Mannheim for the V-12 engines from AMG.

Everything about the engine, including that “one man, one engine” philosophy will be retained so its not like a lot of things will change now that the production will be done in a different address. Besides, Mercedes-AMG has already set a precedent for this. Remember, production of its turbocharged four-cylinder engines is done by MDC Power GmbH, a Daimler subsidiary in Kölleda, Germany. There hasn’t been any problems building these engines in a remote location so there’s no need to be worried about the same setup being prepared for the V-12s.

Mercedes-AMG S65 Coupe

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