Daimler Hungary plant starts test production

Reuters (Budapest) - German car maker Daimler AG's 800 million euro plant in eastern Hungary has started test production and is due to start regular operation by late March, the daily Nepszabadsag reported on Monday.

The plant in Kecskemet will have annual capacity of 100,000 units but the paper said that figure could be tripled just by increasing the number of shifts in the company's existing factory.

Mercedes-Benz Hungaria Chief Executive Ingo Frohlich told the paper the company expected the new B class vehicle to help sustain double-digit sales growth in Hungary this year after 1,085 cars sold in 2011.

Rival Audi AG is also expanding its Hungarian operation in a 900 million euro project, which it said would lift output to 125,000 vehicles a year once the expanded plant begins full production from 2013.