Mercedes-Benz expanding Hungarian plant to support B-Class, CLA production

[Scott at Pelican Parts]

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz


Mercedes-Benz kicked off production of its new B-Class earlier this year at its Kecskemet plant near Budapest, Hungary, and according to Automotive News Europe, the all-new CLA-Class will be built at this plant, too, starting next year. To support the two new premium compacts, the facility will double its annual output to 300,000 units by 2015.

AN reports that this increased capacity will cost Daimler "several tens of billions" of forints (Hungary's currency) which sounds like it might be in the neighborhood of roughly $178 million USD (40 billion forints). It isn't clear if, or how many, jobs will be created by this expansion, but the article does point out that Hungary is currently in the midst of a recession so this investment in the country should be well received. In total, Daimler has already spent $1.9 billion USD on production facilities in Hungary - as well as China and Germany - to bolster its products in this rapidly growing vehicle segment.

In addition to the A-Class, B-Class and future CLA-Class (which are all expected to go on sale in the U.S.), Mercedes-Benz plans two other compact vehicles, the GLA-Class crossover and the new SLA-Class roadster.Mercedes-Benz expanding Hungarian plant to support B-Class, CLA production originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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Autoblog
08-16-2012 08:03 PM

[oldsinner111]

I'll be dammed if I spend $100,000 usd for a Chinese or Indian Benz.
Might as well buy a Chinese parts,made in Mexico Chevy

[compress ignite]

X2

They (Stuttgart and Montvale) might as well keep all that "OffShore" produced
Excrement in Asia or the E.U.

The Q.C. on the Genuine MADE IN Deutschland Mercedes products is POOR enough as it is.

I'll not go into the "Junk" still rolling of the production lines in Vance/Tuscaloosa...

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Although, the Ancillary Parts produced by Mercedes in Hungary are actually
better Quality than the Austrian/German produced versions.