There was Romania and then there was Poland as a location for hosting a new manufacturing plant for the next-generation A and B-Class Mercedes-Benz cars. But Hungary rose to the occasion and convinced the committee at Stuttgart to gain preference over the other two countries.

Once up and running, this will be Mercedes' 18th manufacturing unit on planet Earth. It was speculated right from the beginning that Merc will manufacture small cars alone as the cars are meant solely for the East European market. Mass production of luxury sedans or high-end SUVs won't make business sense as one should bear in mind that these are developing regions.

Mercedes will also build a compact SUV based on the B-Class alongside the A and B-Class cars, which will go head-to-head against rival BMW's X1.

80km from the capital Budapest, the city of Kecskemet will see Diamler investing 800 million euros for the construction of the plant which will provide employement for 2,500 people. The site has be chosen by them, as it apparently offers more than just cheap labor and land cost.

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