Mercedes-Benz Brings Marco Polo Camper Production Fully In-House at Ludwigsfelde

Mercedes-Benz has moved the complete manufacturing of its Marco Polo camper van under its own roof, with conversion work now taking place at the Ludwigsfelde facility outside Berlin. The V-Class donor vehicles continue to arrive from Vitoria in Spain, but for the first time in more than four decades the finished camper rolls out entirely from within the company’s own production network rather than through an outside converter.

The shift is a strategic one. By absorbing conversion into its own operations, Mercedes-Benz gains tighter command over build quality and delivery schedules in a niche where its main rival, Volkswagen, already assembles the California model itself. The company points to shorter waiting times and greater flexibility as the immediate payoffs for customers.

Inside a dedicated hall, the entire process runs from roof cutting through to furniture installation, managed with digital planning and a paperless workflow. The refreshed Marco Polo is now open for orders in several European markets and arrives with revisions covering interior space, lighting, blackout capability, acoustics and connectivity.

Ludwigsfelde carries significance beyond this model. The site also produces open-body Sprinter and eSprinter variants and serves as the launch factory for the Mercedes-Benz Van Architecture, the platform expected to underpin the brand’s next generation of vans. Positioning the Marco Polo there ties a premium, low-volume product to a plant that is simultaneously gearing up for a broader architectural transition.

Roberto Lopez Garcia, Managing Director and Plant Manager at Ludwigsfelde, framed the milestone in personal terms, welcoming the Marco Polo “home” and crediting the colleagues who made the start of production possible. For buyers, the practical result is a camper whose every stage now carries a single manufacturer’s oversight.