en.Wedoany.com Reported - Mercedes-Benz Group is investing around 1 billion euros to expand its plant in Kecskemét, Hungary, where costs are about 70% lower than in Germany, making it the company's largest production site in Europe in the future.

Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius stated at the plant expansion opening ceremony that global competition is intensifying in terms of technology, cost, speed, and quality. He praised the Kecskemét plant as a competitive advantage and proof that the highest quality and best cost efficiency can go hand in hand, with its costs setting a benchmark in Europe. Data previously provided by Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm shows that production costs in Hungary are about 70% lower than German levels.

The strategy aims to double the share of production in low-wage European countries from 15% to 30%, while Germany's maximum production capacity will continue to shrink in the coming years, peaking at around 900,000 vehicles. Hungary's new Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, also attended the opening ceremony. Kecskemét is located about 80 kilometers southeast of Budapest.

Mercedes-Benz's Hungarian plant is already the most efficient in Europe. The Kecskemét plant, which has been producing cars since 2012, is now Hungary's largest automotive factory, with an annual production capacity potential of around 400,000 vehicles. The Group has invested around 1 billion euros to build two new workshops for bodywork and assembly lines, a second press shop, a new paint shop, and a battery assembly line. Currently, the plant produces the A-Class and GLB SUV, with the future electric C-Class set to join production, marking the first time Hungary will manufacture a model in the core segment. The Group adopts a dual-track manufacturing concept: existing workshops flexibly produce both internal combustion engine and electric vehicles on shared lines, while the new workshops are designed exclusively for electric models. The future compact version of the G-Class will be produced solely in Hungary, and the GLC may also be manufactured at this plant.