Aston Martin nears completion of its new Welsh factory for the DBX
The DBX could be a game changer for the company, so the factory better be a good one.
Everyone is making an SUV these days. Bentley and Rolls-Royce are in on the game. Hell, even Lamborghini is cranking out a new production SUV that has nothing to do with a military contract. It should come as no surprise, then, that Aston Martin is working on its first SUV, the DBX, and it just finished the second of three phases of construction at the plant that will build it.
The new facility, located in St. Athan, Wales, is unique because it's built in three converted aircraft super-hangars that were initially owned by the Ministry of Defense. The company has already hired around 150 workers for the facility to work on preproduction for the DBX, but we expect the final headcount to number closer to the four-digit mark.
In case you forgot what the DBX looked like, it's a little different than most other luxury SUVs that we've seen. It bears a closer resemblance to the Local Motors Rally Fighter than it does a Range Rover , and it seems like it's going to be built for speed rather than comfort. Needless to say, if we don't see an Aston Martin DBX kitted out with rally lights, skid bars and some form of anti-lag once production starts, we'll be very disappointed.
Speaking of production, the word from Aston is that the St. Athan facility will start cranking out DBXs by the end of next year. Fingers crossed that we get a spirited drive in one where we can live out our Paris-Dakar fantasies.