cars news 10: Aston Martin Will Build DBX and Electric RapidE in U.K.

Aston Martin has announced that it will open a new manufacturing plant in St. Athan, U.K., that will build the brand’s first crossover, the DBX. The automaker also confirmed that the production of their next-generation vehicles will continue at their headquarters in Gaydon, including the all-electric RapidE sedan and the new DB11 sports car.

In total, up to 1,000 new jobs will be created in St. Athan and Gaydon between now and 2020 and another 3,000 due to Aston Martin’s new investments. Originally, Aston Martin was considering locations in continental Europe and the U.S. to produce its crossover.

“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,” said Dr. Andrew Palmer, CEO of Aston Martin.

St. Athan will be the only production facility to build Aston Martin’s first crossover, which was previewed in concept form as the DBX at the 2015 Geneva auto show. The automaker also expects that 90 percent of the production at St. Athan will be exported outside of the United Kingdom. In the fall of 2016, Aston will begin production of the DB11, the successor to the DB9 and the first car to launch under the automaker’s Second Century plan. All Aston Martin sports car production will be centered in Gaydon, where the facility will be expanded and is expected to have a maximum volume of 7,000 vehicles a year by 2020.

Aston Martin also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LeEco for a partnership that will lead to the development of electric vehicles, the first being the RapidE.

Aston Martin DBX Concept pictured below.

Source: Aston Martin