► New Aston Martin factory in Wales
► Work starts on £200m plant at St Athan
► 750 new jobs to build DBX from 2019
Aston Martin has started building its £200 million new factory in South Wales for its new DBX crossover. The vehicle pictured is the concept car, but is believed to paint an accurate picture of the as-yet-unnamed production SUV due in 2019.
It’s the company’s second manufacturing facility in the UK, after the Gaydon headquarters, which will continue to build the next generation of sports cars, including the new DB11.
The new site at former MOD ‘super-hangars’ in St Athan, Glamorgan, will contribute to 750 extra jobs at both locations by the end of the decade, according to Aston Martin. That’s in addition to a further 3000 jobs across the supply chain.
Those 750 additional jobs are down a little from the initial estimate of 1000 new jobs, announced when the scheme was confirmed in February 2016.
Why Aston Martin will build its new SUV in the UK
The company had been considering new manufacturing locations across the world – including several states in the south of the US and Jaguar’s former site in Browns Lane, Coventry. Wales won with its combination of government grants and proximity to the existing Gaydon HQ.
Building work to create the factory is now underway, after contracts were exchanged; first up are the customer and staff reception areas and administration blocks, while the manufacturing facility will be built from April 2017.
Crossover = turbocharging of Aston Martin output
According to the Aston business plan, the DBX should contribute around 3000 units a year to the company’s output from 2020 – and 90% of Welsh production will be exported. If realised, that should propel the brand’s sales back to its pre-recession levels of around 7000 cars a year.
Andy Palmer, CEO of Aston Martin, said: ‘During our 103-year history, Aston Martin has become famous for making beautiful hand-crafted cars in England. Through a detailed evaluation of over 20 potential global locations for this new manufacturing facility, we were consistently impressed with the focus on quality, cost and speed from the Welsh Government team.
‘As a great British company, we look forward to St Athan joining Gaydon as our second centre of hand-crafted manufacturing excellence.’
Why the Aston Martin DBX SUV is aimed at ’30-something women’
