Due to extremely positive response to the new A-Class, which has already resulted in more than 40,000 orders, Daimler announced further expansion of the production capacity for the car by bringing is the Finnish supplier Valmet Automotive. They will be making more than 100,000 units for Daimler from 2013 through 2016.

Mercedes had already expanded the Rastatt plant in preparation for production of the new Mercedes A Class, but they apparently didn’t anticipate such massive interest in the new baby Merc.

This is just the beginning of the expansion though. Almost 400 million Euros will be invested in 2012 and 2013 in components that will only be used for the new compacts. It is furthermore planned to build premium compact cars for the Chinese markets locally and close to the customers in the future. Looks like Daimler is going to get its money back sooner than expected.

The new generation A-Class has been built at Rastatt since July 2012. Market launch will be in mid-September. Next product from the Rastatt plant will be the compact SUV.

The interest in the new A-Class is in spite of its rather expensive prices, which start from 23,978.50 euro for the A 180 BlueEFFICIENCY, and goes up to nearly 40,000 for a A250 AMG Sport model. On the upside, the new A-Class looks properly hot, and comes with a lineup of good engines, ranging from 80 kW (109 hp) to 155 kW (211 hp), highly efficient with emissions from 98 g CO2/km and a best-in-class Cd value of 0.27.