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Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176 Production Starts at Valmet, in Finland

At just 13 months after the contract manufacturing agreement was signed, the first customer Mercedes-Benz A-Class (W176) has rolled of the production line of the Valmet factory in Uusikaupunki, Finland.
Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176 1 photo
Photo: Daimler AG
Andreas Renschler, member of the Daimler Board of Management responsible for Manufacturing and Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars & Mercedes-Benz Vans: “Our new compacts are very successful - we will now be able to serve high customer demand even better. Valmet Automotive is complementing our flexible production network of the plants in Rastatt and Kecskemét in an optimal way. Thanks to these additional capacities for the A-Class, our core plant in Rastatt can at the same time optimally prepare for its third production model - the GLA - which is due soon.”

At least 100,000 A-Class models will leave the Finnish production line from 2013 until 2016 in what is Valmet's first ever collaboration with the German car brand.

The move hasn't arrived too soon, as all three Mercedes-Benz models built on the MFA (Modular Front-wheel drive Architecture) platform have exceeded all expectations, while the upcoming GLA seems to be a winner as well. In the first seven months of 2013 alone, no less than 202,149 models of the A-Class, B-Class and the CLA have been delivered, which is a 62.7% raise compared to last year.
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About the author: Alex Oagana
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Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project.
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