{"id":616,"date":"2026-05-16T09:39:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=616"},"modified":"2026-05-16T09:39:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:39:36","slug":"mercedes-benz-willing-to-move-into-defense-production-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=616","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes-Benz \u2018willing\u2019 to move into defense production \u2013 CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

The German luxury carmaker once manufactured military trucks and airplane engines for the Nazis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mercedes-Benz is considering engaging in defense production if it would make \u201cbusiness sense,\u201d<\/em> its CEO Ola Kallenius has told the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

The Munich-based company once manufactured military hardware on a large scale, before and during World War II. It began supplying trucks and airplane engines to the Nazis in 1937.<\/p>\n

After Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, all of the vehicles produced by Mercedes-Benz were sent to the army or to businesses viewed as essential for the war effort. During that period, almost half of the carmaker\u2019s 63,000 employees were forced laborers, POWs and concentration camp inmates, according to the Mercedes-Benz\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

In his interview with the WSJ on Friday, Kallenius stressed that \u201cthe world has become a more unpredictable place, and I think it is absolutely clear that Europe needs to increase its defense profile. Should we be able to play a positive role in that, we would be willing to do so.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

According to the CEO, defense-related operations would likely constitute \u201ca minor share\u201d<\/em> of Mercedes-Benz\u2019s business, which would remain focused on making civilian cars.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
This company used to make weapons for the Nazis. Now it will do the same for Israel<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, he suggested that defense production could become \u201ca growing niche\u201d<\/em> that could boost company profits. \u201cSo, we\u2019ll see,\u201d<\/em> Kallenius added.<\/p>\n

Germany and other EU states have accelerated military spending and defense procurement in recent years, with Brussels urging member states to expand arms production and reduce reliance on US military supplies.<\/p>\n

The push toward rearmament comes as Germany\u2019s industrial sector struggles with weak growth, high energy costs and falling competitiveness, prompting some manufacturers to look at defense contracts as a new source of revenue.<\/p>\n

In February, Mercedes-Benz reported a 57% drop in profit in 2025 compared to the previous year as European carmakers continue to struggle amid rising production costs caused by growing energy prices, supply chain disruptions, regulatory pressure and competition from Chinese companies.<\/p>\n

The Financial Times reported in March that another German carmaker, Volkswagen, was in talks with Israel\u2019s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to convert its failing Osnabrueck plant to the production of air-defense missiles. A spokesman for VW denied the report.<\/p>\n

In 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz unveiled a \u20ac100 billion ($113 billion) military modernization plan for the German armed forces. Der Spiegel reported last month that the Defense Ministry in Berlin had signed some 47,000 procurement contracts since then.<\/p>\n

\n
\n READ MORE: <\/span>\u2018A war of necessity\u2019: Germany marches East again
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

Moscow has repeatedly said it has no plans to attack Germany or the rest of Europe, but promised a harsh response if it is attacked. Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned about the \u201cdanger of EU militarization,\u201d<\/em> which he said is happening \u201cvery fast and frenetically.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The German luxury carmaker once manufactured military trucks and airplane engines for the Nazis Mercedes-Benz…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}