Daimler’s new EUR800m Mercedes-Benz B-class plant in eastern Hungary reportedly has started test production and is due to start regular operation by late March.

Citing local daily Nepszabadsag, Reuters reported the plant in Kecskemet will have annual capacity of 100,000 units that could be tripled just by increasing the number of shifts.

Mercedes-Benz Hungary chief executive Ingo Frohlich told the paper the company expected the new B-class vehicle to help sustain double-digit sales growth in Hungary this year after 1,085 cars were sold in 2011.

Volkswagen’s Audi is also expanding its Hungarian operation in a EUR900m project which it said would lift output to 125,000 vehicles a year once the expanded plant begins full production from 2013, Reuters noted.