Photo: autoevolution
Just the other day I was walking inside Christian von Koenigsegg’s plant in Ängelholm as a member of the 2015 Gumball 3000 Rally. The guys waited for us and put on a show while we were there, even though they canceled going out on the track aboard one of their cars.
Even so, we took a tour of the facilities and, despite having to turn in our cameras and smartphones; we got to learn a couple of interesting things about the Koenigsegg factory.
For example, at the moment, it is capable of an output around 10 to 15 cars per year. Considering how many cars other manufacturers sell in the same amount of time, that seems like nothing but when looking at the hypercar scene you’ll realize that’s more than honorable.
At the same time, Koenigsegg wants to do something about that, and they told me that the production will soon double thanks to a new assembly line. As we were walking through the plant, I could actually see it being built.
Don’t think that it’s this fancy automated line like you see in all sorts of documentaries on Discovery Channel though. As a matter of fact, it’s a lot more basic than you’d imagine.
It all starts with the body that is made entirely of carbon fiber. And I do mean entirely! It looks rather weird in person if you ask me, but once it’s painted, all of those worries about its looks go away.
That’s because painting requires the manual application of the lacquer and a thin layer of wax, stuff that is done by one guy over the course of around 1,000 hours for one car.
The engine room isn’t a lot more forgiving either. The 5-liter twin-turbo V8 is assembled by hand right there, and it takes two to three months to make. With all this in our head, we started to realize why making such a car takes that long.
Fortunately, Christian is on the case and the second assembly line should be ready by 2016 according to his words.
For example, at the moment, it is capable of an output around 10 to 15 cars per year. Considering how many cars other manufacturers sell in the same amount of time, that seems like nothing but when looking at the hypercar scene you’ll realize that’s more than honorable.
At the same time, Koenigsegg wants to do something about that, and they told me that the production will soon double thanks to a new assembly line. As we were walking through the plant, I could actually see it being built.
Don’t think that it’s this fancy automated line like you see in all sorts of documentaries on Discovery Channel though. As a matter of fact, it’s a lot more basic than you’d imagine.
It all starts with the body that is made entirely of carbon fiber. And I do mean entirely! It looks rather weird in person if you ask me, but once it’s painted, all of those worries about its looks go away.
That’s because painting requires the manual application of the lacquer and a thin layer of wax, stuff that is done by one guy over the course of around 1,000 hours for one car.
The engine room isn’t a lot more forgiving either. The 5-liter twin-turbo V8 is assembled by hand right there, and it takes two to three months to make. With all this in our head, we started to realize why making such a car takes that long.
Fortunately, Christian is on the case and the second assembly line should be ready by 2016 according to his words.
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