Economic Audit - Mercedes-Benz Group AG

Domain: Economic - Economic Entity scope: Mercedes-Benz Group AG (FRA: MBG), Stuttgart - passenger cars, vans, and financial services. The independent Israel importer Colmobil is flagged importer-level (not Mercedes-corporate); the wholly-owned Mercedes-Benz R&D Tel Aviv subsidiary is the genuine direct corporate presence (in scope); Daimler Truck Holding AG (spun off Dec 2021) and the Chinese/Gulf shareholders (BAIC, Geely, Kuwait Investment Authority) are documented and attributed at their own entity level. Compiled: 2026-06-21 Method: Live web search only

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Mercedes-Benz Group AG has documented sourcing/investment relationships with Israeli-domiciled technology companies.

Gauzy Ltd (Tel Aviv): Gauzy, an Israeli light-and-vision-control company headquartered in Tel Aviv, supplies smart-glass technologies to Mercedes-Benz Group for serial-production vehicles; its SPD (Suspended Particle Device) technology has been integrated across five Mercedes-Benz serial-production models including the Maybach S-Class and the SL Roadster, and in April 2025 Gauzy confirmed its dual SPD & PDLC stack was used in the Mercedes-Benz Vision V concept car at Auto Shanghai 2025.¹²³

StoreDot Ltd (Herzliya, Israel): Daimler AG (the pre-2022 predecessor to Mercedes-Benz Group AG) led a USD 60 million investment round in StoreDot, an Israeli battery-technology startup, in September 2017, alongside a strategic-cooperation agreement; StoreDot’s investor base continues to list Mercedes-Benz as a corporate backer, and no public evidence was identified that Mercedes-Benz Group AG has exited this position or that the agreement was terminated.⁴⁵

Via Transportation (founded Israel, HQ relocated): Daimler AG made a USD 50 million strategic investment in Via Transportation, a ride-sharing technology firm co-founded by Israeli Talpiot alumni, and established a joint-venture entity (HQ Amsterdam) for European On-Demand Shuttle services; Via is now headquartered in New York, and the current status of Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s residual stake is not confirmed in public disclosures - flagged as unresolved.⁶

No other Israeli-domiciled parts or materials suppliers to Mercedes-Benz Group AG were identified in public sources reviewed.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

Mercedes-Benz Group AG manufactures passenger cars and vans at plants in Germany, Hungary, the United States, China, South Africa, and other jurisdictions. No public evidence was identified that any Mercedes-Benz Group manufacturing facility is located in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or that any Mercedes-Benz product is assembled in or exported from those territories, and no labelling or regulatory-compliance issue arising from Israeli-origin components was identified.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Tel Aviv Ltd (wholly-owned subsidiary - IN SCOPE): Mercedes-Benz Group AG maintains a directly owned Israeli subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Tel Aviv Ltd, registered in Tel Aviv-Jaffa; the centre opened on 16 November 2017 and remains listed on the Mercedes-Benz Group careers site as an active Group location.⁷⁸⁹ The subsidiary focuses on connected-car software, cybersecurity, biometric authentication, and the Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS), as part of a worldwide R&D network.¹⁰ This is a Mercedes-Benz-Group-corporate investment in Israel - categorically distinct from the independent Colmobil importer relationship.

StoreDot investment (Israeli battery startup, Herzliya) and Via Transportation investment are noted above; the current size of these stakes is not publicly disclosed.⁴⁵⁶ No Mercedes-Benz Group manufacturing joint venture or fixed-asset investment in Israel beyond the Tel Aviv R&D subsidiary was identified.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Colmobil Group - independent importer (NOT a Mercedes-Benz-corporate act): The authorised importer of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, vans, and trucks in Israel is the Colmobil Group (also styled Major Motors Ltd), a privately held Israeli company owned by the Harlap family.¹¹ Colmobil is an independent commercial entity - not a Mercedes-Benz subsidiary, joint venture, or majority-controlled affiliate; the relationship is a standard exclusive-distribution franchise in which Colmobil purchases vehicles from Mercedes-Benz and resells them in Israel. This is an importer-level commercial relationship, not a Mercedes-Benz-Group-corporate market act. In 2024, Colmobil sold over 50,000 vehicles (all brands) and ~4,200 luxury vehicles, holding more than 20% of the Israeli automotive market, and also imports Genesis, Smart, and Mitsubishi.¹²

Colmobil has publicly confirmed supply of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles to the IDF and Israeli Police; in November 2023 it supplied the IDF with 112 Mercedes Arocs heavy-duty tractor-heads (used to transport Merkava Mk.4 tanks) and 30 Mercedes Sprinter 4×4 ambulances.¹³¹⁴ These transactions were conducted by Colmobil as the independent importer; no public evidence was identified that Mercedes-Benz Group AG was a direct party to the IDF procurement contracts or received separate direct consideration from them, and the commercial proceeds flow first to Colmobil. (The Arocs are Daimler Truck products post-2021 spin-off - see Military for the entity detail; the importer-vs-corporate distinction is maintained here.)

Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Tel Aviv Ltd (corporate presence - IN SCOPE): As noted under Investment, Mercedes-Benz Group AG operates a wholly owned R&D subsidiary in Tel Aviv, constituting a direct corporate operational presence in Israel.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Mercedes-Benz Group AG (FRA: MBG) is a publicly listed German Aktiengesellschaft. Its major identified shareholders are BAIC Group (Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co.) at 9.98% voting rights - a Chinese state-owned enterprise and the single largest individual shareholder, bound by agreement not to raise its stake further; Li Shufu / Tenaciou3 Prospect Investment Ltd at 9.69% equity (Li Shufu being the founder of Geely Automobile, China); and the Kuwait Investment Authority at approximately 4.97–5.33% of share capital (a Gulf sovereign wealth fund, shareholder since 1974).^15161718 No Israeli sovereign fund, Israeli institutional investor, or Israeli state-affiliated entity was identified as a significant shareholder; the shareholder base flags Chinese-state (BAIC) and Gulf-sovereign (KIA) strategic stakes, with the remaining ~75% held by diversified institutional and retail investors.

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s 2024 group revenues were EUR 145.6 billion and 2025 revenues EUR 132.2 billion; the annual reports segment revenue primarily by China (~34% of unit sales), the United States (~16%), Germany (~11%), and broader Europe (~22%), with Israel not broken out as a separate reporting segment and no Israel-specific revenue figure publicly disclosed.¹⁹ Economic contribution to the Israeli economy flows principally through (a) Colmobil’s domestic vehicle sales and service operations (an independent importer - revenues and taxes flow to the Israeli entity, not to Mercedes-Benz Group AG directly) and (b) Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Tel Aviv Ltd, which employs staff in Israel, pays local wages and taxes, and generates in-country economic activity as a direct Group subsidiary. No Israel-specific dividend-repatriation or royalty-flow data is publicly disclosed.

End Notes