Hungary – Less than three years after its opening, the youngest Mercedes-Benz plant has officially commenced production of the second model to be exclusively made there, after the CLA. The B-Class is also produced at Kecskemét, and the total output for the existing two models was 150,000 in 2014.
Following an initial investment of €800m ($897m) for construction, Mercedes-Benz has continued to develop the plant and last year focused on preparations for the CLA Shooting Brake. This involved the recruitment and training of additional employees, bringing the total workforce to almost 4,000.
“The start of production of the new CLA Shooting Brake marks the fifth successful ramp-up for our new generation of compact cars in our global production network,” said Markus Schäfer, board member for Mercedes-Benz Cars with responsibility for Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.
Kecskemét has turned out 300,000 vehicles since its launch.