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Aston Martin looks into the future

Although the 2008 economic crisis still leaves its mark, Aston Martin is making strides in the UK.

We often hear about how a luxury car manufacturer may change the lives of the elite that can afford these dream vehicles, but what about those who are less fortunate? Following the decision to build a new Aston Martin crossover vehicle ‘DBX’ in St Athan, Wales and the all-electric RapidE in Gaydon, England, it is anticipated that British car manufacturer Aston Martin will create up to 1 000 new jobs in the two villages between now and 2020. Across the supply chain and local businesses, a further 3 000 jobs will likely be created.

Dr Andrew 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.

Occupying some 90 acres, the new facility at St Athan will re-purpose some of the facilities currently in use at the site by the Ministry of Defence. Construction work is planned to commence in 2017 with full vehicle production commencing in 2020. The demand for these vehicles is growing worldwise, and over 90 percent of the production from St Athan will be exported outside of the UK.

Production on the new DB11, the replacement for the iconic DB9 and the first car to be launched under the company’s Second Century plan, will begin in Gaydon towards the end of the year. Over the course of the next five years, the company will both replace and expand its entire sports car portfolio – good news for luxury car aficionados. Top Gear reviewed the DB9 as ‘the car that began one of the greatest comebacks in recent automotive history’. The DB9 remains one of the world’s most desirable cars, they said before quipping – quite aptly – ‘Wipe the drool. Wipe it.’

If the DB11 is anywhere as popular, Aston Martin’s plan to progressively expand production to a planned maximum volume of 7 000 sports cars a year by 2020 will be a no-brainer.

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