This summer, parent Daimler AG will open a fourth office of Lab1886, its global incubator venture, in Atlanta, joining existing locations in Beijing, Berlin and Stuttgart. An executive said it is too early to share the planned investment amount or headcount information.
Axel Harries, vice president of product management and sales for Mercedes-Benz, said Lab1886 is dedicated to turning business ideas into new products and services. Its name refers to the year that Daimler’s founders invented the first automobile.
Lab1886 combines a big corporation’s know-how with the spirit of a startup, Harries said. It has a venture capital component to invest in new ideas. He announced the investment as part of a ceremony on Thursdaycelebrating the grand opening of Mercedes-Benz USA’s headquarters in suburban Atlanta.
“Our industry is changing faster than ever,” Harries said. “We are turning back into a startup, which is exactly what we were when we came up with the novel idea of the automobile.”
The exact location for Lab1886 in metro Atlanta has yet to be finalized, but it will be separate from the U.S. sales and marketing office in Sandy Springs, said Dietmar Exler, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA.
Exler opened the 200,000-square-foot headquarters in a ceremony on Thursday attended by employees, dealers, community representatives and local dignitaries including Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. He gave rides to some of those politicians in a replica of that 1886 vehicle.
Photo Caption:From left: Axel Harries, vice president, product management & sales, MB passenger cars; Sandy Springs (Ga.) Mayor Rusty Paul; Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal; Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms; and Dietmar Exler, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, pose during the opening of the brand’s new U.S. headquarters in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs.
