Recovery of car engines: the Mercedes-Benz case

The following describes the situation in 1997. Although many changes occurred since then, these changes do not concern the issues that play a role, but how they are dealt with. In 1997, Mercedes-Benz (MB) belonged to the Daimler-Chrysler-Corporation with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. MB is, among others, active in the marketing, production, distribution, and after-sales activities for cars, vans, and trucks. MB offers the owners of an MB car, van, or truck the option of replacing their present engine with a remanufactured engine, of the same or different type, with the same quality as a new engine, but for a price 20-30% lower than the price of a similar new engine. This offer holds for at least 20 years after a new car, van, or truck has been purchased. MB offers similar options for waterpumps, crank cases, crank shafts, and other parts produced by MB itself. In this chapter, we focus on the recovery network for engines for cars and vans, further denoted by the MB-MTR network, based on the MBMTR plant in Berlin, Germany, where the actual remanufacturing takes place. In 1996 MB-MTR remanufactured about 60 of the above engines a day, selling 14,250 remanufactured engines in total, about 40% of the total world-wide market for remanufactured MB engines for cars and vans.