The Company Daimler launched production at the new car manufacturing plant based in Kecskemét as of today. Now, less than four years after the decision about the location was made by the company, the first Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, for the first time ever in Hungary, rolled off the assembly line. At the ceremonious opening Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Division Dr. Dieter Zetsche and Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft. Mr. Frank Klein welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Mr. Viktor Orbán and six hundred guests. Being the first product of Mercedes-Benz’s new compact car generation a B-Class rolled off the assembly line. The production of this model began in September 2011 in Rastatt. Thanks to the increase in production capacity the company will be able to meet the growing demand for this car. Daimler invested EUR 1.4 billion in the production of the new Mercedes-Benz compact car generation: 800 million was invested in the construction of the new plant in Kecskemét and 600 million in the expansion of the plant in Rastatt. The joint production of the B-Class in Rastatt and Kecskemét provides an opportunity for the flexible and optimized utilization of the production capacity of the two plants.

"The new B-Class will be the first of the two new future compact car models that will be manufactured in Kecskemét. The construction of the plant progresses according to the plans: at present, the testing of equipment is in progress. The installation of technical equipment was accomplished in the production buildings so the technology test-run was launched in accordance with the schedule. The various levels of production testing will begin in September when the new test cars will be made and the complete production equipment gets optimized. This will render all the prerequisites given to allow for the first customer cars to roll off the assembly line in the first quarter of the year 2012.
The thousandth employee was hired by the Mercedes-Benz plant and the number of people on staff will reach two thousand by the end of the year. Workers are hired mostly for jobs in production, primarily from the region of Kecskemét. More than 2500 people will be employed at the completely built plant."

The Mercedes-Benz factory in Kecskemét can now be clearly noticed from afar thanks to the star representing the brand. The symbolic star, which makes all the world-famous brand’s headquarters and factories unmistakably recognized all over the world, was placed and put in operation on the tallest building of the plant. The star installed on the tallest building has a diameter of 6 meters and its total height including the bottom holding frame structure is 10 meter. It weighs 2,400 kg, rests on a rolling bearing that rotates at the speed of 1.8 turns per minute. Its bright polished pitted precious metal surface and the white plexiglass underneath has a chrome-effect in the daylight and thanks to LED lighting at night it appears glowing in white light.

The topping out ceremony at the car manufacturing plant in Kecskemét took place with the attendance of Minister for National Development Mr. György Matolcsy. In order to keep the determined deadlines, a new technology was applied already in the planning phase: the Kecskemét plant was the first among Mercedes-Benz factories where the plans were fully made with the help of three-dimensional digital planning, including the designs for the buildings, the technical equipment, and the production lines as well. It was of great significance for the purpose of precise scheduling of implementation works, keeping all the deadlines and staying within the set budget limits. The plant in Kecskemét was equipped with the most modern environmentally sound technology. The concept for logistics allows for saving as much as a yearly quantity of 60,000 tons of CO2 due to the usage of the industrial railway line built to the site of the plant. The choice of location for the investment had a huge advantage for the Hungarian economy: more than 80 percent of all construction works were carried out by companies located in Hungary. There will be more operation-related opportunities opening up for Hungarian partner companies later on in the future as well. As the project progresses, several suppliers already received the first assignments, there will be a number of other tender invitations announced. 17 Hungarian suppliers received orders for car production basic materials in the value of several hundred million Euros.

In the presence of Hungarian Prime Minister Mr. Gordon Bajnai, Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz’s passenger car division Mr. Rainer Schmückle and the future director of the plant Mr. Michael Frieß launched the construction works of the production plant in Hungary. The new factory will be in a joint production network with the compact car manufacturing plant in Rastatt. Preparatory construction works were started on July 1st, 2009 on the site of the future Hungarian plant. With the laying of the foundation stone began the construction works of the first building of the new factory, the paint shop. Construction will then continue at the beginning of next year with the building of the body shop and the assembly. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft. began the hiring and training of the first group of employees. The first job positions opened in administration, human politics, and control, and the company employed the first technical experts as well, who began their appropriate training programs.

National Development and Economy Mr. Gordon Bajnai and Mayor of Kecskemét Mr. Gábor Zombor signed the collaboration agreement for the construction of a new Mercedes-Benz plant in Kecskemét. The parties representing the company Daimler and the Hungarian Government agreed on important details about the establishment of the new factory, which will be an investment in the value of Eur 800 million and it will bring about the opening of 2500 jobs for the region. According to the agreement, more than a hundred thousand compact cars will be manufactured at the factory from the year 2012.

With four car models instead of the now existing two, Mercedes-Benz intends to be present in the market segment of compact cars to a more emphatic extent. The new investments to be realized in the value of Eur 600 million will guarantee the complete, long-term utilization of the production capacity of the factory in Rastatt. In order to make sure that the competitiveness is ensured with the extended product supply range as well and that the conquering of new markets is achieved with simultaneously establishing the capacity that it further necessitates, Mercedes-Benz is planning to build a new factory in Kecskemét, Hungary, announced the company. The investment to build the new production facility in Kecskemét is envisaged by Mercedes-Benz to be of Eur 800 million, and it will create as many as 2500 new jobs for the people who live in the region.