FRANKFURT, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Germany's Opel, a unit of GM, is increasing production at its key Ruesselsheim plant to keep up with demand for its new Insignia model, defying the slump in automotive sales around the world.
The company was working to increase output in the western German town to a maximum capacity of 800 Insignia cars per day, up from currently just over 600, a spokesman for Opel said on Tuesday.
In addition to increasing overall production capacity, the company has added four eight-hour shifts to boost production by a total of 1,000 cars.
Opel started building the Insignia, which won the coveted European Car of the Year award, this year. The mid-sized saloon will compete with cars including Ford's Mondeo model and the Citroen C5.
"The Insignia has had a good start", the spokesman said.
The spokesman for the carmaker could not say whether further shifts would be added, saying the company scheduled shifts on short notice depending on orders for its cars.
Car sales have fallen dramatically as the global financial crisis has gathered steam. European new car sales fell 25.8 percent year-on-year in November, the seventh consecutive monthly drop, according to car manufacturers' association ACEA.
Opel plans to cut production of its Astra and Corsa models, which are made in the German cities of Bochum and Eisenach. The company has said before it would make 10 percent fewer cars in 2009 than it did this year.
Opel has also sought funding guarantees from the German government to help weather the devastating downturn in auto markets. The German government has said any funding for Opel was conditional on none of it finding its way back to GM. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Simon Jessop)