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Topping Out Ceremony for Plant Extension at Opel Eisenach

190 million euro investment in Thuringia ready for new small car production

2011-12-07

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Rüsselsheim.  The Opel plant in Eisenach (Germany) has celebrated the topping out of a new factory hall as part of a plant extension, ready for the production start of Opel’s future urban small car – currently known under the codename “Junior”. The topping out was held in the presence of the minister for the economy of the state of Thuringia, Matthias Machnig. Just six months after the construction work began, the topping out wreath was installed above the roof of the new hall E 100. The site will house the assembly line for the chassis and body components. The new small car will be built in Eisenach in addition to the Opel Corsa.

The production of the new small car – its name will be revealed next year – will help to exploit the production capacity of the Eisenach plant. At the start of 2013, production of the new vehicle will begin.

The heart of the plant extension is the new factory hall E 100. It will help to boost the product diversity in Eisenach. Body and chassis components will be assembled inside a space of 22.000 m². There is a direct rail connection and seven truck docking stations to ensure an efficient delivery of components. The new site is connected to the body shop and the final assembly station. This means that the components can easily and quickly reach their destination along the assembly line.

The director of the plant, Stefan Fesser, thanked the economy minister Machnig and the state government of Thuringia for its contribution for the works expansion. “The public sector support for our investment plus the high quality workmanship and efficiency in Eisenach, gives our plant a global reputation for top quality and enhances our appeal as a production site,” said Mr Machnig.

In addition to the construction of a new factory hall, Opel optimizes all of its early stage assembly facilities to fit the new car which has different dimensions to the Opel Corsa. The new measures include a new lifting and conveyor system as well as brand new machinery to make the floor of the vehicles. New facilities are also set up for the assembly of the raw car body.

New booths are built in the paint shop, modern robots are added and a new paint supply system is introduced. The end result is that the paint shop can work at a higher standard while processing even more vehicles.

The current expansion drive is the most significant investment at the Opel Eisenach since the production start back in 1992. The fact that Eisenach will produce two model types with distinctive life cycles will mean that the production capacity of the factory is more evenly utilized.