Why Mercedes transferred the production of the B-Class to Rastatt
- The first generation of the Mercedes B-Class compact MPV was produced at the Rastatt site in Germany from 2005 to 2011. The second generation was produced in Rastatt from 2011 to 2014. Its production was transferred in 2014 to the new Hungarian plant in Kecskemet that Mercedes had just built.
- The third generation of the B-Class launched at the end of 2018, for a marketing campaign that began in the first weeks of 2019, has been transferred again from the Kecskemet site to the German site in Rastatt.
- So much so that today the Rastatt site produces the Class A hatchback, Class B and GLA, while the Kecskemet site has been home to the new generation of Class A hatchbacks and tri-corps since the beginning of 2019, and the CLA sedans and station wagons which have been produced there since their launch.
- As there are expected to be as many Mercedes Class B cars in Rastatt as there are Class A cars in Kecskemet, there will be no decrease in production in either Rastatt or Kecskemet, as the manufacturer plans to manufacture 300,000 cars in Rastatt (100,000 Class A, 100,000 Class B, 100,000 GLA) and 200,000 cars in Kecskemet (100,000 Class A, 100,000 CLA) each year.
- The capacity of the Rastatt plant is currently 300,000 units per year while that of Kecskemet is 250,000 units per year. In the event of higher than expected demand for the future GLA, the German manufacturer will have the possibility to transfer part of the Class A produced at Rastatt to Kecskemet and thus use the remaining capacity.
Contact us: info@inovev.com