Aston Martin to create up to 1,000 jobs with new factory in St Athan, Glamorgan and Gaydon, Warwickshire
James Bond's favourite car brand Aston Martin is creating up to 1,000 jobs in the UK as part of plans to create a new factory in St Athan, Glamorgan and ramp up its existing hub at Gaydon, Warwickshire.
The new factory will span across 90 acres, repurposing some of the facilities currently in use at the site by the Ministry of Defence, specifically transforming three "super-hangers". Construction work is planned to commence in 2017, with full vehicle production commencing in 2020.
St Athan will be the sole production facility for a new Aston Martin "crossover" vehicle, which is expected to be particularly popular in China and US. More than 90 per cent of the production from St Athan will be exported outside of the United Kingdom, Aston Martin said.
The car firm is planning to build its "next-generation sports cars" at its Gaydon headquarters, with up to 7,000 cars being produced each year by 2020.
Up to 1,000 new jobs will be created across St Athan and Gaydon between now and 2020, bolstering a further 3,000 support jobs as a direct result of these investments.
Chief executive Andrew Palmer 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.”
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Aston Martin is an iconic British brand and the decision to invest here shows real confidence in our economy.
"With our economic strengths and easy access to European markets, the UK automotive sector is thriving. It is one of the biggest in Europe – and the most productive – and Aston’s creation of up to 1,000 new jobs in Wales and the West Midlands is welcome news.”