German luxury carmaker Mercedes Benz has started production of A-Class compact car at its Rastatt plant.
According to the carmaker, the A-Class is its second model to be produced at the facility following the production of new B-Class in September 2011 and at the Kecskemét facility in Hungary in late March 2012.
Daimler, the maker of Mercedes- Benz cars and trucks, is doubling its investments to EUR1.2bn in the Rastatt plant to build new compact cars.
During the first phase of expansion, the company had invested EUR600m to build new bodyshell building and for tools and is planning to invest another EUR600m through 2013 to upgrade assembly and associated equipment installations in the body shell production.
The carmaker is also planning to invest EUR400m in the powertrain facilities in 2012 and 2013 for production of parts exclusively for the new compact models.
According to Diamler, compact SUV will be the next model manufactured at Rastatt facility.
