„Instead of the 30,000, sales are expected to be up to 10,000 units higher”, said Klaus Franz, the head of Opel's workers’ council, adding: „It's an attractive product, although the weak dollar is a problem.”
An Opel official would not confirm the story, saying only that the Astra, which is yet to hit the North American market, has already generated strong consumer interest.
GM launched production of the US-destined Astra compact car in Belgium late last month, with deliveries to North America scheduled for early December.
According to another report by Germany's Automobilwoche, General Motors Europe's Polish plant in Gliwice is set to make some 240,000 units of the all-new Astra compact car, starting in 2010. This is the same level as the planned deliveries from the company's plant in Bochum, Germany.
As the other two sites picked by GM Europe for the new Astra job, the UK's plant in Ellesmere Port is expected to make another 180,000 units, while Sweden's Trollhattan site some 80,000, mostly of Saab's new entry-level model.
For the new Astra, GM is aiming to reduce costs by some 30% compared with the current-generation model. Additionally, the company wants to make sure that in the future each unit of the Astra takes only 15 hours hours of labour to make.
