High demand for the Opel/Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer [wagon] helped General Motors’ Ellesmere Port plant to record line rates of 47 units per hour from July 2011, the automaker said.
The plant assembled 139,528 vehicles in two shifts in 2011 of which 129,648 were Sports Tourers.
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91% of these models in their first full year of production were exported mainly to Europe. Germany was a large market, taking 50,153 units in 2011.
Ellesmere Port may not build the next generation Astra wagon, however. Insiders at the GTC three-door hatchback launch late last year said the UK plant may be assigned the three-door instead, as it’s most popular in this country, while the wagon would be built in Europe, closer to where most are sold.
