Opel/Vauxhall Opens New Engine Plant and Extends Test Center

For a company in such dire straits, OpelOpelGermany, 1863 > present85 models
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/VauxhallVauxhallUnited Kingdom, 1857 > present31 models
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is continuing to grow. It has opened a new engine factory in Szentgotthárd, Hungary, and expanded a test center in Germany. 

The new engine factory opened on September 20. It is part of the company's investment into 23 new models and 13 new engines by 2016. 

The factory cost €500 million and two years to produce. It will build gasoline and diesel engines and employ 800 people. At full capacity, it will be able build 500,000 engines a year. 

The first engines built at the factory will be a 1.6-liter gasoline engine for the AstraOpel Astra Gen.4 [J/D]Germany, 2010 > 2015194 versions
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.  

The updated Dudenhofen Test Centre cost €10 million mostly to revitalize the high-speed circuit. Most of the money went into new sensors for the surface of the track and full electrification of the control and measurement technology. It also increased the angle of the track from 37.5 degrees to 40 degrees. That increases the track's top seed to 250km/h. 

“This is a clear sign of our commitment to the long-term future of our development facilities in Germany. The extensions are a significant contribution to further increasing the quality of our products, and bringing affordable innovations to our customers fast,” said Mike Ableson, Opel/Vauxhall vice president of Engineering. 

Opel is working on further upgrades that will test pass-by noise, engine calibration, traffic control, transmission testing and driving dynamics. 

The test center was originally opened in 1966.