Daimler Group will begin production of a new, eight-speed gearbox for Mercedes-Benz cars at its local gearbox subsidiary Star Assembly in Sebes, local media reported.

Star Assembly is Romania's second largest exporter, romania-insider.com said.

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The group launched production of the nine-speed 9G-Tronic gearbox at the central Romania factory in 2016, after a EUR300m investment.

The company will celebrate the new stage of plant production at an event on 7 February.

"The ceremony will mark the beginning of a new phase of Daimler's investment in Romania, namely the expansion of the automotive production to the latest generation of Mercedes-Benz models," the company announced in a press release.

Star Assembly is the second largest exporter in Romania after Dacia and one of the largest companies by turnover which reached RON7.3bn (EUR1.67bn) in 2017.

A second subsidiary in Romania, Star Transmission, posted a turnover of RON303m (EUR65m) in 2017, the local media report said.