As the two vehicles have been so successful and the compact segment of the market is becoming more important, the German carmaker plans to add two new models to its compact line-up at the end of next year.
“We’ve set the standards for premium compact vehicles with the A- and B-Class, and we plan to further exploit our outstanding position in this segment in the future,” said Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Head of Sales and Marketing Mercedes-Benz Cars. “We want to attract new customer groups and also achieve growth in additional markets with the successor generation in this segment.”
The A-Klasse and the B-Klasse’s largest markets are those in Europe. The most important one is Germany, followed by Italy and France. The B-Klasse has also registered promising sales in China, where 6,400 units have been sold since the beginning of last year, when the car was introduced. The best-selling A-Klasse models are the A160 and the A180 (both are petrol-powered), while the most popular B-Klasse versions are the B 180 and B 180 CDI (diesel). When it comes to exterior colors, the cars’ customers prefer Cosmos Black and Polar Silver.
The company is investing $800.8 million to increase the production capacity of the German Rastatt site, that handles the production of compact cars. An additional investment of $1.06 billion will be made in Hungary, where Daimler will build a second compact car production site in Kecskemet.
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