Aston Martin Lagonda opens new manufacturing plant in Wales

Aston Martin Lagonda has opened its new manufacturing facility at St. Athan in Wales.

While Gaydon continues to be the home of the company's sports car production, St. Athan is the home of Aston Martin's first SUV, the DBX.

Upon the commencement of full production 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.

In 2016, Aston Martin Lagonda chose the 90-acre St. Athan to be its newest centre of manufacturing excellence in the U.K.. The former British Royal Air Force site officially opened in 1938 as the home of the No.4 School of Technical Training, which was soon expanded with the arrival of a fighter group pool the following year. The base was home to 14,000 personnel during World War Two and was used for training both ground and air crew.

Since 2016, St. Athan has undergone a three-year transformation from Royal Air Force base to state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.

Phase one of construction began in late 2016 with the creation of the customer and staff reception areas, administration and management offices and the employee restaurant, while phase two got underway in early 2017 after the ceremonial handover of the three super-hangars that now house the new manufacturing facility from the U.K.'s Ministry Of Defence.

The final phase to fit out the now converted super-hangars got underway in late 2018, ready for pre-production to commence in 2019.

The completion of the St. Athan facility means that it joins the marque's Gaydon headquarters and its Wellesbourne and Newport Pagnell facilities as a centre of the highest quality of British craftmanship and engineering.