Mercedes doesn't expect to be able to meet demand for the new A-Class on its own.
For the first time since its 1997 introduction Mercedes-Benz plans to sell its smallest model, the A-Class in the U.S. – and to help meet anticipated global demand the luxury maker is turning to a partner to help boost capacity.
Finnish specialty company Valmet Automotive has agreed to produce an extra 100,000 A-Class models between 2013 and 2016, Mercedes confirmed today, as a result of the “very positive resonance” for the all-new version of the subcompact.
“Our new compacts are so popular with our customers that the Rastatt and Kecskemét plants are completely utilized,” explained Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, the Mercedes board member overseeing production. “We thus signed Valmet as an experienced production specialist who will provide us with additional A-Class capacities as of 2013.”
Mercedes' product blitz will see the small CLA coupe-like-sedan come to the U.S.
The German maker officially introduced an all-new version of the A-Class at the Geneva Motor Show last March. The new model is a sharp departure from the original A-Class design, abandoning the high-standing platform that was original conceived to allow for a hydrogen fuel cell or some other advanced powertrain to be mounted below the floor. That means the new minicar sits several inches lower and looks decidedly less awkward.
“From the very beginning, we set out to make a bold statement,” declared Dieter Zetsche, Mercedes’ brand boss and chairman of parent Daimler AG, noting that the production A-Class wagon was strongly influenced by the concept vehicle revealed at the New York Auto Show in April 2011.
The smallest model in the Mercedes line-up will first roll into European showrooms then fan out to dealers around the world. That will include the U.S. market for the first time.
While several versions could eventually come to the States, Mercedes-Benz US CEO Steve Cannon told TheDetroitBureau.com last week that he does not anticipate bringing over the hatchback version of the luxury minicar. Instead, the initial focus will be on a coupe-like sedan, the CLA, a downsized version of the maker’s familiar CLS model.
(Mercedes will launch an array of new models in the U.S. For more, Click Here.)
With the A-Class, Mercedes is expecting to draw heavily from Gen-X and younger Millennials who are looking to enter the luxury market for the first time. No surprise, then, that Mercedes is putting a premium on technology, from advanced safety systems like Collision Prevention Assist to in-car infotainment.
“We finally gave the iPhone its own set of wheels,” CEO Zetsche remarked during the Geneva Motor Show preview, noting that the system in the A-Class will be able to access contacts off an iPhone, while also displaying Facebook content and linking to various smartphone apps.
With the European launch of the new A-Class still two months away Mercedes reports it has already received 40,000 advance orders. That convinced it there wouldn’t be enough capacity to produce the subcompact using the company’s existing production network.
That led it to turn to Valmet Automotive, based in Uusikaupunki, Finland. The company was originally established as a joint venture between Valmet and Sweden’s Saab-Scania, though today it is run solely by the Finnish company.
Valmet has specialized in producing specialty vehicles, today including the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, as well as high-demand mainstream vehicles, such as the A-Class. It recently wrapped up production of the Porsche Boxster and Cayman models, the German maker shifting those vehicles in 2011 back to its own facilities.
As for the A-Class, Mercedes also plans to build the new version in China. And there is a possibility the minicar might be added to the line-up expected to roll out of a second North American assembly plant Daimler is expected to add to its global production network.
The A-Class is based on the new MFA small car architecture, a platform also used for the slightly larger B-Class line. Meanwhile, Mercedes will share the MFA with its alliance partners Renault and Nissan. The luxury compact platform will serve as the foundation for the Infiniti Etherea model now under development and possibly other products to follow from Nissan’s luxury brand.