Aston Martin's new factory in South Wales, which will eventually create 1,000 jobs, has been officially opened.
Its new facility, in a converted former RAF super hangar at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, forms part of a £200m investment.
In its first factory outside of its HQ at Gaydon in the East Midlands, production of its new SUV will start in earnest next spring.
The president and Group CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda, Dr Andy Palmer, and First Minister Mark Drakeford spoke at the opening ceremony of Aston Martin’s second 海角视频 manufacturing facility.
Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates, and, the former Secretary of State for Wales and Vale of Glamorgan MP Alun Cairns, joined a number of senior Aston Martin staff, dealers and potential customers on a tour of the facility.
The luxury car maker is initially making the luxury marque’s first SUV, the DBX, at the factory, but will then add the manufacturing of Rapide E and Lagonda brands to the marque’s output at the Vale of Glamorgan site.
Every car made at the St Athan facility will have an Aston Martin badge on the sill of the front doors that says ‘Made in Wales’.
Upon the commencement of full production of the DBX at St Athan in the second quarter of 2020, the company will have created up to 600 new highly-skilled jobs, rising to 750 at peak production. When at full capacity the facility will be capable of creating 5,000 a year of the company's first SUV the DBX.
Most Read
It is expected that by 2021, when the two new vehicles will be in full production, there will be 1,000 workers at the factory, with a likely further 3,000 across the supply chain and local businesses in Wales.
Dr Palmer said: "The opening of St Athan is a hugely important milestone in the company’s growth plan and integral to our ambitions as a global luxury brand with a presence in all major sectors of the market.
"Bringing the DBX is not only about making cars in Wales but preserving all Aston Martin Lagonda manufacturing in the United Kingdom and we should be most proud of that.”
He called the day a landmark moment in the history of the company.
The rumours of investment from billionaire Lawrence Stroll, the Canadian owner of Formula One team Racing Point, were not addressed.
In 2016, Aston Martin looked at more than 20 possible sites for the factory, from as far afield as Alabama to Eastern Europe before selecting the 90-acre St Athan site, which included three former MOD ‘super hangars’.
It was the super hangers that gave the south Wales site the edge over its rivals as the company said it effectively gave Aston Martin an 18 month headstart.
Don’t miss
The Welsh Government gave a number of grants to the car maker, but the company has previously said that the financial incentives were not the reason the company chose Wales.
First Minister Drakeford said: "Today is a proud moment for Aston Martin, the Welsh Government and for Wales.
"Locating this world class and globally recognised brand in St Athan is a huge vote of confidence in the Welsh workforce. It is an example of the Welsh Government’s support and can-do attitude driving economic growth and creating jobs.
"I look forward to the first made-in-Wales Aston Martins rolling off the production line next year."
Dr Palmer added: "Everyone involved in the creation of our new St Athan facility should feel proud today. It has taken a lot of hard work to get to this point.
"Our core business of producing beautiful, hand-crafted cars in England is now extended to Wales, which is extremely pertinent to us as a Great British company."
Unveiled in Beijing and Los Angeles last month, the Aston Martin DBX will go into full production at St Athan in the second quarter of 2020. The SUV has been through an intensive development process, which fittingly began in the forests of Wales.
The DBX is being marketed as an SUV with the soul of a sport car. The turbocharged V8 has cylinder deactivation to enhance fuel economy and can also propel DBX from 0 to 62mph in 4.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 181mph.
St Athan will be the sole production facility for the DBX and the company says that 70% of its customers have a SUV and research has shown they would like an Aston Martin SUV.
“Given the underlining market potential we believe that target average sales for the DBX can be achieved with around 7% penetration of the high-luxury and performance premium market,” said Dr Palmer.
Around 90% of production is expected to be exported and sold overseas. The recommended retail price for the DBX is from £158,000.