Daimler Pumps Money in Rastatt Expansion

German carmaker Daimler announced today it will expand production capacity of the Rastatt facility following a 600 million euros investment. The money is part of the overall 3 billion to be spent over the next year by Daimler to refit, retool or expand facilities in Germany.

Rastatt is the place where Daimler is building its A- and B-Klasse models. The 600 million investment is only a bit smaller than the one to be invested by the manufacturer in erecting the Kecskemét, Hungary facility over the next years.

Rastatt will be joined by Kecskemét and they will both build the same type of cars. These classes will form an important part of the carmaker's future strategy. Production in Hungary is expected to begin as soon as 2012.

The importance of the A- and B-Klasses for Daimler can be seen in the number of vehicles expected to roll off the assembly line of the two facilities. In Hungary alone, the plant is scheduled to have an output of 100,000 units a year. And this is to cover the “additional capacity requirement that cannot be covered only by the main plant in Rastatt,” as Daimler was quoted as saying by Autonews.

“Kecskemét offers the best prospects from a commercial standpoint and meets the high qualitative and quantitative criteria for a successful Mercedes-Benz production site. At the same time, Rastatt will remain a central proven component of our production network,” Rainer Schmuckle, Mercedes Benz Cars CEO said in Hungary.