World’s Mega Car Factories

Next time you jump on a site like Cars4Sale Australia , take a look at just how many car brands are becoming readily available. With so many options available on the modern car market, the sheer scale on which they are manufactured becomes apparent. Companies such as General Motors incorporate many different brands, and have had to create huge factories worldwide to cope with the global demand for new vehicles. Here are three of the world’s mega car factories, capable of production on an unimaginable scale.

Ford – Valencia, Spain

While not the largest factory in the world, the Valencia plant still makes over 2000 units per week, and contributes to over 8% of the economic output of Valencia. The factory still employs approximately 7000 workers, plus ancillaries, which has been a huge support for the area. This is especially important in the age of automated manufacturing, and such a high employment rate has ensured Ford’s success in Valencia.

With over 9 million cars having being produced here, often under difficult political situations, it’s easy to see why the Valencia plant is deserving of a mention. Founded in 1973, the plant primarily produces the highly popular Ford Fiesta, though it also produces the C-Max and some Ford based Mazda vehicles.

General Motors – Oshawa, Canada

Set on an impressive 930,000m squared of factory floor, the Oshawa Car Assembly plant is one of the world’s mega car factories. It is not only one of the largest auto plants in the world, but it has repeatedly won a number of awards for quality and consistency of its products. The factory employs 5400 people on a permanent hourly rate, and has 400 salaried employees.
Much of the production has become automated over the years, which allows the plant to produce an even higher number of vehicles more efficiently. These include the Buick Regal, and well as the Chevrolet Impala, Camaro and Equinox models. As an exciting development, the site has been chosen to produce several high-performance cars, including the 2012 Camaro ZL1 and the 2012 Buick Regal GS. It will also build the 2013 Cadillac XTS in its award winning factory. On top of numerous Power awards, Harbour Consulting rated Oshawa as the most efficient plant in North America.

Hyundai – Ulsan, South Korea

This huge factory is purportedly the largest of its kind in the world. Employing over 34,000 people from the local population, the Ulsan facility even has its own dock at the country’s largest container ports. Almost a town in its own right, the factory has a sprawling network of two lane internal roads to service every part of its giant facility. Production is an impressive 1.53 million Hyundai branded cars per year. This equates to a staggering ratio of one car every 13 seconds.

From beginning to end, assembling a car such as the Elantra takes less than 5 hours. While many parts are externally sourced, the factory produces its own transmissions and engines as well. Hyundai are building another super-factory in China, which will rival the production level set by the Ulsan plant.

With such high employment rates, these mega car factories are an integral part of our global economy. From Spain to Seoul, these facilities have the capability to produce an amazing quantity of brand new cars from a range of manufacturers. If this has piqued your interest, then taking a tour of one of these incredible factories would be an experience of a lifetime.

Written by Alex K.
Alex is a frequent traveller and a motor enthusiast. He has recently bought a BMW E92 M3. Alex loves cruising on the seaside roads in the weekend near his home in Noosa, Queensland.