Valmet Automotive has been contracted to assemble 100,000 units of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class in Finland between 2013 and 2016. The firm is already a supplier of roof systems to Daimler.
The third generation A-Class will begin reaching European dealers in September. Daimler claims to have 40,000 orders for the car.
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The contract assembler has been charged with building the new model, due, Daimler says, to production limitations at its own Rastatt facility. The German plant is at capacity and will add a third shift in the northern hemisphere autumn. An as yet unnamed small SUV will be built at Rastatt, Daimler recently announced.
The new Kecskemét plant in Hungary does not have room to take on build of the A-Class as it will add a related model, a four-door coupe, from later in 2012. The closely related B-Class is made there.
All four models (A-Class, B-Class, B-Class coupe & small SUV) use the new front- and all-wheel drive MFA platform. Daimler says there will one more vehicle to come on this architecture which speculation suggests might be a small sedan for China and the USA.
Valmet, meanwhile, notes in an issued media release that it will now call back the majority of the 300-400 workers that it laid off in 2012. It will also hire “some hundreds of new employees from 2014 onwards depending on the final development of the assembly volumes.”
The Valmet works adjacent to its headquarters at Uusikaupunki-Nystand already assembles the Porsche Cayman and Fisker Karma. The firm is expected to add assembly of the forthcoming Porsche Boxster in 2013.
Author: Glenn Brooks
