motor

Aston Martin announced that the production of the Rapide four-door model will be transferred from Magna Steyr in Austria to UK. According to the British manufacturer, the procution will be moved to firm’s headquarters in Gaydon, central England, in the second half of 2012. For those who don’t know, Aston Martin picked Magna Steyr in order to build its Rapide back in 2008 due to the fact that it didn't have sufficient capacity at Gaydon and production started in late 2009.

Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez said today that company’s factory has now become more flexible and more efficient and it is ready to build the Rapide. "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" Bez said in a statement.

Aston Martin also needs to prepare for the introduction of the Rapide S, a more powerful version of its four-door model. For those folks who don’t know, the standard Aston Martin Rapide is powered by a 6.0-liter V12 engine delivering 470 hp, enough to push the car from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 5.3 seconds. The Rapide S is expected to feature an upgraded version of the V12 engine delivering around 510 hp. [via - 4wheelsnews]

2011 Aston Martin Rapide