Aston Martin has confirmed that production of its Rapide four-door sports car will move to the company’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire in the second half of 2012.
The company appointed Magna Steyr in 2008 as a partner to produce the car at its facilities in Austria, following a feasibility study that highlighted constraints at Gaydon at that time. A dedicated facility – AMRP – at Magna Steyr’s facilities was then established, and the car reached full production in 2010.
Dr Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin Chief Executive, said: “In 2008 we had facility restrictions at Gaydon which indicated that production of Rapide at Gaydon would likely compromise production of our other cars. We were not prepared to do this.
“Now, three years on things are very different – Gaydon is more established, more flexible and more efficient. While our overall volume has not changed significantly, we now produce a far richer model mix – eight model lines (plus five variants) compared to three model lines (plus two variants) in 2008 – so Rapide production is now possible.”
Work on readying Aston Martin’s Gaydon headquarters for Rapide will begin immediately with a view to production commencing in the second half of 2012.
Click through to download SMMT Motor Industry Facts 2011, which contains extensive information about UK automotive manufacturing, including breakdowns by make and model.
