German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is expecting to achieve a new production record in 2012 by manufacturing nearly 1.34 million vehicles.
During the year, the automobile manufacturer's production network, which operated at high capacity utilisation, allowed selling 1,194,904 cars globally through the January to November 2012 period.
Mercedes-Benz Cars & Mercedes-Benz Vans Manufacturing and Procurement Board of Management member Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard said that the company's products have been received so well by customers that allows it to post a new record also this year.
"At the same time we are setting the foundation for the future: We are continuously investing in our production network to accommodate our growth strategy," Bernhard said.
The company's new models including A-Class, B-Class and M-Class have driven demand in 2012 with sales of 100,000 B-Class models and 90,000 orders for the A-Class models.
Mercedes-Benz has invested about EUR3bn ($3.93bn) in its four German plants during the year and has introduced three-shift operations at the Rastatt, Germany and Tuscaloosa, Alabama plants in addition to special shifts at the Powertrain production network to meet demand.
Mercedes-Benz's parent firm Daimler, along with its Chinese partner BAIC, is planning to invest about EUR2bn over next years to increase production at its Beijing plant as well as $2.4bn will be invested in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama facility.
In 2014,Daimler along with its partner Nissan are planning to produce four-cylinder engines at Nissan's Decherd powertrain plant in Tennessee, US, to facilitate supply of engines for the C-Class production in the Tuscaloosa Plant.
