Located in the German state of Thuringia, Opel’s Eisenach plant is currently the birthplace of the Corsa line of subcompact vehicles. Coincidentally, Thuringia is the birth place of Johan Sebastian Bach and is currently home to 43,000 people. And it just so happens that Eisenach is gearing up for the full-scale production of the ADAM city car.
ADAM will be the only car in its class to be manufactured in Germany — a testament to the proven track record of the Eisenach plant. ADAM will share the assembly line with the Corsa, but the plant has undergone several updates — a full 190 million euro-worth — to accommodate the increased production volume as well as the high levels of customization offered to ADAM buyers.
One of the elements of the plant’s expansion is a new production building, dubbed E100. It resides in an area of 22,000 square meters and will serve as the location of body and chassis componentry welding and mounting, with all-new welding facilities having been put into place. E100 has direct access to the passing railway line and features seven rear docking and one side docking stations for trucks — allowing for easy delivery of parts. The assembly building is connected to the bodywork shell construction location as well as the final assembly line, allowing components to reach final fabrication in a timely and straightforward manner.
ADAM’s launch also heralded the addition of a new paint shop to Eisenach. The line has been fitted with ultra-modern robot technology that, according to Opel, “ensures the best possible and efficient application of paint on all the different body styles.”
Taking advantage of the current work holidays and the ensuing pause in production, Opel engineers and manufacturing experts are putting the finishing touches to the ADAM changeover at the plant; several production validation models have already been made. The car will make its official world premiere at the Paris Motor Show, which takes place September 29 through October 14, 2012, with the first ADAM models arriving at dealer showrooms in January of 2013.
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