Aston Martin To Redevelop Former Air Force Base Into Second Plant In UK

Aston Martin has started Phase II of work on the redevelopment of MOD St Athan - its new site in South Wales that will serve as its second UK manufacturing plant. The facility, a former military site, be the production site of Aston Martin's new SUV, DBX, in 2019. St Athan was selected as the site for Aston Martin's second manufacturing plant in UK from 20 potential global locations as part of the company's Second Century Plan. The British luxury carmaker's investment into this factory is part of its wider industrial expansion plans that will create 1,000 new jobs across its two manufacturing sites by 2020.

Aston Martin St Athan Plant

Phase I was commenced in late 2016 when Aston Martin first received access to part of the site. The second phase marks the beginning of the project that will comprise the redevelopment of three super hangars into a manufacturing facility. The new state-of-the-art plant will also create employment employment opportunities in South Wales; the first batch of technicians are already working on the Aston Martin DB11 at Gaydon, training for the highly-skilled roles they will take up at St Athan in 2020.

Aston Martin DBX

Andy Palmer, President and CEO, Aston Martin, said, "Due to its sheer size and scale, the St Athan Super Hangars represented an excellent opportunity for us to build our second manufacturing facility, within the envelope of an existing structure. It is perhaps fitting that St Athan is, like our headquarters and sports car factory at Gaydon, a former Royal Air Force base. Now we have commenced Phase II, these hangars will be redeveloped to become the home of our newest manufacturing facility."

In case you were wondering, Aston Martin's facility in Gaydon, Warwick, England, also its headquarters, was opened in 2003 and has supported the design and production of the company's model range till now.