Finland’s Valmet Launches Mercedes A-Class Output

VIENNA – Volume production of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class small car is under way at contract manufacturer Valmet Automotive in Uusikaupunki, Finland.

The two signed their manufacturing agreement some 13 months ago, and plans call for output of more than 100,000 cars between 2013 and 2016.

“Valmet Automotive is complementing our flexible production network of the plants in Rastatt (Germany) and Kecskemet (Hungary) in an optimal way,” Andreas Renschler, Daimler management board member-manufacturing and procurement for Mercedes cars and vans, says in a prepared statement.

“Thanks to these additional capacities for the A-Class, our core plant in Rastatt can at the same time optimally prepare for its third production model, the GLA, which is due soon.”

Daimler and Valmet provide no information about the investment needed to retool the Finnish facility for the A-Class. But Valmet says it has engineered and constructed a completely new body shop dedicated to the car.

“For the Daimler body shop, we have made the largest industrial robot deal in the history of Finland,” Valmet President Ilpo Korhonen is quoted as saying in a company publication.

The body shop has about 200 robots and the automation level exceeds 90%, the assembler says. Changes also have been made to the paint and assembly lines.

All of Valmet’s current manufacturing personnel are involved in building the A-Class. Valmet employs 800 people in Finland, including office, engineering and manufacturing personnel. Another 200 workers will be hired in 2014 if production volumes develop as expected, a spokesperson says.

The A-Class is the only car currently manufactured by Valmet. Production of the Fisker Karma was phased out in August 2012, but production lines remain in place and output theoretically could be restarted if needed.

Uusikaupunki is the third site to produce the new generation of Mercedes-Benz compact cars.

The German factory in Rastatt started volume production of the new B-Class in September 2011 and added the new A-Class in July 2012. Output of the GLA compact cross/utility vehicle, to be unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show next week and introduced to markets in 2014, soon will begin in Rastatt.

Daimler launched the B-Class at the Kecskemet plant in March 2012. Output of the CLA, the facility’s second product, started in January.

Mercedes sold 202,149 A-Class, B-Class and CLA vehicles this year through July.

The conquest rate of the new A-Class in Europe is about 50%, the auto maker says, and the average customer’s age is 10 years younger compared with buyers of the predecessor model.

Local production of the GLA for the Chinese market at Beijing Benz Automotive, a joint venture between Daimler and China’s BAIC, is planned in the future.