Aston Martin announces date for DBX production

ASTON Martin has used the handing over of a Royal Air Force base that will be used as a second UK manufacturing facility to announce that production of the forthcoming DBX crossover will begin in 2019.

The announcement took place at St Athan Super Hangars in south Wales, and marks the beginning of the second phase of Aston Martin’s development plan for the facility which will see the three existing super hangars converted into a state-of-the-art production facility for the DBX.

Phase one commenced late last year when Aston Martin was granted access to the facility and began retrofitting customer and staff reception areas, administration and management offices and the employee restaurant.

It was just over a year ago that the British manufacturer announced that St Athan would join Gaydon as its second UK-based manufacturing hub which will create 750 new jobs at the Welsh plant.

Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said that the size of the facility made it perfect for a large-scale manufacturing operation.

“Due to its sheer size and scale, the St Athan Super Hangars represented an excellent opportunity for us to build our second manufacturing facility, within the envelope of an existing structure,” he said.

“It is perhaps fitting that St Athan is, like our headquarters and sports car factory at Gaydon, a former Royal Air Force base.

“Now we have commenced Phase II, these hangars will be redeveloped to become the home of our newest manufacturing facility.”

Concrete details of the DBX are still thin on the ground, but Aston Martin has said that the mission statement for the crossover is to make it the world’s most beautiful SUV.

The teaser image released in conjunction with the factory handover announcement gives away little, but shows a sleek, low-slung silhouette with a profile similar to that of an Aston Martin sportscar.

A concept version of the DBX was revealed at the 2015 Geneva motor show, showing what was essentially a two-door sports coupe with greater ground clearance and a pure electric drivetrain.

Realistically, a production version would be more likely to have four doors, and if battery power is to be used in its drivetrain, a hybrid setup would be more likely than a pure EV.

The DBX will use the bonded aluminium construction used in the DB11, and Mr Palmer said that in addition to the 7000 vehicles per year set to be produced at the Gaydon facility, the DBX and other vehicles slated for production at St Athan may be able to contribute as many as an additional 7000 sales per year.

“To be clear, we’re talking about 7000 sportscars a year in Gaydon, and then we’ll have capacity – that’s not the same as making – 7000 large cars, SUVs and Lagondas in Wales,” he said.

An Australian debut for the DBX is likely to occur in late 2019 or early 2020.