Aston Martin Rapide will be first Aston built outside of the UK

Aston Martin Rapide

The Aston Martin Rapide is the UK brand’s first four-seater since the 1961 Lagonda Rapide. It will also be the first model built outside its UK plant in the firm’s 95-year history. Aston has chosen Magna Steyr, a specialist car plant in Graz that produces models for BMW and Mercedes. Aston is preparing 240 workers at Magna’s Austrian plant to build up to 2,000 Rapide sedan units a year starting next year.

“Aston have spent the past 16 months replicating their British production operation at their own dedicated factory in Graz, with a small team of Aston specialists training Magna staff, some of whom have traveled to Gaydon for first-hand experience,” reports The Sun.

What’s reason for picking Magna instead of the firm’s Gaydon, Warwickshire plant? Apparently, the Rapide was planned three years ago when there was no prediction of a recession and Gaydon was pumping out cars at full capacity.

Click here for more news on the Aston Martin Rapide.

Refresher: Power comes from a 6.0L V12 engine making 470-hp and a peak torque of 443 lb-ft. Mated to a Touchtronic 2 6-speed gearbox with electronic shift-by-wire control system, the Aston Martin Rapide can go from 0 to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds with a top speed of 188 mph.

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– By: Omar Rana

Source: The Sun