Europe’s longest indoor e-karting circuit will be built on the former General Motors site north of Antwerp. Experience Factory will operate the circuit. It is not yet known when it will open.
The circuit will be 1.1 km long and spread over three floors. It will accommodate 80 electric karts. The Italian Tony Kart is the official supplier of the karts that racing legends, such as Ayrton Senna and Sebastian Vettel, used to win their karting races with.
Beerens’ Belcar moving in
Last year, the Beerens Autogroep reacquired the vacant buildings of Plant 1 De Autofabriek, the old Opel factory at the Noorderlaan in Antwerp, and transformed them into a multifunctional site.
The Antwerp car servicing group wanted to breathe new life into the former Opel plant with a new site for its Belcar daughter to prepare some 100,000 new and second-hand leased cars a year for the market. Announced in February 2021, the site reopened in 2023 after renovation, which included 20,000 square meters of green roofs.
The old, 100,000-square-meter Opel Plant 1 at the Noorderlaan dates back to 1953, when the company started producing Opels, Vauxhalls, and Bedford trucks. The Opel Ascona was the last model to roll off the production lines before the new—bigger—plant in the harbor opened in 1988.
Once employing 3,000 people
The old, 100,000-square-meter Opel Plant 1 at the Noorderlaan dates back to 1953 when production started of Opels, Vauxhalls, and Bedford trucks. The Opel Ascona was the last model to roll off the production lines before the new—bigger—plant in the harbor opened in 1988. Until then, some 3,000 people worked here. After that, the building was used as parking.
The Beerens Group used to be one of the biggest dealers in Antwerp for the Volkswagen Group, which includes the brands VW, Audi, Seat, and Skoda, until Belgian Volkswagen importer D’Ieteren took over these activities some ten years ago.
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