The UK is to gain a new car manufacturing facility ? Aston Martin will build its forthcoming crossover at St Athan in Wales.
The decision, which will create the premium brand?s second manufacturing location alongside its existing base at Gaydon in Warwickshire, is part of a £200m investment in Aston Martin?s UK operations.
The St Athan site in Glamorgan will make use of an existing Ministry of Defence site ? three ?super hangars? will be transformed into the new plant, with construction beginning in 2017.
St Athan will be the sole UK production location for Aston Martin?s new crossover that will be evolved from the DBX concept revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2015. Production is expected to begin in 2020.
At Gaydon the new DB11 ? replacement for the DB9 ? will begin production in Autumn 2016, and from 2018 the all-electric RapidE will also be built at the Warwickshire facility. Aston Martin estimates that by 2020 1,000 new posts will be created within the company by the expansion, and a further 3,000 jobs are likely in the supply chain and local businesses around the factories.
Announcing the investment, Aston Martin CEO Dr Andrew Palmer reveals that more than 20 potential global locations for the new manufacturing facility were analysed in detail.
The DBX concept was first seen at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show.
?We were consistently impressed with the focus on quality, cost and speed from the Welsh Government team,? Palmer says.
?As a great British company, we look...