The first contract assembled Mercedes-Benz A-Class has come off the line at Valmet Automotive in Uusikaupunki, Finland, about 13 months after the agreement was announced. The plant supplements Daimler’s own output in Rastatt, Germany and Kecskemét, Hungary.
Manufacturing chief Andreas Renschler said: “Valmet Automotive is complementing our flexible production network of the plants in Rastatt and Kecskemét in an optimal way. Thanks to these additional capacities for the A-Class, our core plant in Rastatt can at the same time optimally prepare for its third production model – the GLA – which is due soon.”
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He implied there would be further cooperation with Valmet Automotive in the next few years, adding: “We have found the ideal partner for this project. As a production specialist, [Valmet] reliably fulfils the high requirements in terms of processes and especially quality which globally apply to the production of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars.”
Mercedes has previously outsourced some production to Magna Steyr in Austria.
Valmet manufacturing chief Risto Hukkanen said: “The launch of contract manufacturing of the A-Class is an important milestone in [our history].
Production at Uusikaupunki is continuously ramping up following the start of production and will be flexibly adjusted to meet the respective required output from now to the end of 2016. More than 100,000 vehicles are planned.
The GLA small SUV is the fourth of five new models that mark a significant expansion of Mercedes’ entry level product line which appeals to new customers. The conquest rate of the latest A-Class in Europe is at about 50%; the average age of buyers is 10 years lower compared to the old model.
The line also includes a new B-Class and the four-door CLA ‘compact coupe’. Demand for these models continues to be very high: from January to the end of July, 202,149 units were delivered, up 62.7% year on year.
Shared architecture allows these new compacts to be produced in the flexible production network of the plants in Rastatt and Kecskemét so all models can be built in any order and volume at each location.
Production of the B-Class started in both plants as the first product of the new generation (Rastatt: September 2011, Kecskemét: March 2012). The new A-Class has been built in Rastatt since July 2012. As the second product from Kecskemét, production of the CLA started in January 2013. Production of GLA, to be introduced in 2014, will soon begin in Rastatt.
In total, Daimler has spent about EUR2bn over several years; EUR1.2bn at the Rastatt core plant and EUR800m to build the new plant in Kecskemét. The number of staff at Rastatt rose to a record 6,600 by the end of 2012, at Kecskemét to about 3,400. Further spends connected to the new generation of compact cars were made at the powertrain plants in Germany, with almost EUR400m between 2012 and 2013 for components exclusively used in compact cars.
Local production of the GLA for China at BBAC (Beijing Benz Automotive Corporation, the joint venture between Daimler and Chinese partner BAIC) is planned.
