Aston Martin is planning to move production of the Rapide sports saloon to the UK in 2012. The production will be moved to the British automaker’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire in the second half of 2012.
After the conclusion of a six month feasibility study, the automaker had decided that the production of the Rapide is not feasible in Gaydon due to some constraints. Therefore, in 2008, the company joined hands with Magna Steyr to manufacture this car and the latter established a dedicated facility in their Graz facilities in Austria. The pre-production of this car began in late 2009 and full production began in 2010.
Explaining the decision to move the production of this car, Aston Martin’s chief executive, Ulrich Bez, said that the facility restrictions in Gaydon would have created problems in production of other cars if the Rapide was produced there in 2008. He remarked that in the following three years, Gaydon has evolved and now is more established, more flexible and more efficient. And thus, the production of this car is now feasible in this facility. He also said that the brand relationship with Magna Steyr had been very positive and it had met all of the brand’s specifications and requirements.
The Aston Martin Rapide is fitted with a hand made 6.0 liter V12 engine producing 477 hp at 6000rpm and a torque of 443lb-ft at 5000rpm. The engine is coupled with Touchtronic 2 automatic transmission, which can be operated in both automatic and manual mode by the driver.
via autoevolution
