First employees for new St Athan plant gaining skills at Aston Martin HQ building the All-New DB11 Sports car.

• First employees for new St Athan plant gaining skills at Aston Martin HQ
• Highly skilled technicians to return to Wales to build the Aston Martin crossover

Earlier this year, Aston Martin announced significant new investments in its long term future in the United Kingdom, choosing St Athan in Wales as the location for its second manufacturing facility.

As a specialist luxury manufacturer, Aston Martin requires highly skilled technicians to hand build its cars, so the new employees for the St Athan plant, which will begin full production in 2020, will commence their careers with Aston Martin at Gaydon. 

Over 40 people have begun work across the business where they are being fully trained in the ‘Aston Martin way’ by building the new DB11.

Dr. Andy Palmer CMG, Aston Martin President and CEO said: “We are proud of the fact that we have a world-class team building our cars so it is vital that the new Welsh workforce is equally dedicated and passionate. 

It gives me great satisfaction to be able to employ a workforce that is local to the St Athan plant and bring them here to Gaydon to train them to become the skilled technicians required to build our beautiful hand-crafted cars. We have continued to work closely with the Welsh Government throughout the recruitment process and we are very pleased with the calibre of our new employees.”

A recruitment event held in Cardiff in the Spring attracted over 3,000 applicants for the jobs being created at St Athan, from apprentices at the start of their careers to already highly-skilled workers.

First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones said: “We are delighted that Aston Martin chose Wales for its second manufacturing facility and it is a pleasure to see the first group of Welsh employees starting out in their new careers with Aston Martin. The new plant will transform the Ministry of Defence site at St Athan with the economic benefits estimated at half a billion pounds over 30 years.”

Construction work is scheduled to start at St Athan in 2017, centering on the transformation of three super-hangers at MOD St Athan.

Aston Martin announces it has located a new production facility in St Athan, Wales for its next gen cars.

• St Athan, Wales selected as second manufacturing location for new crossover as part of £200M investment in new products and facilities
• Gaydon, England confirmed as manufacturing centre for next generation sports cars
• Up to 1,000 new jobs created across both locations by 2020 

Aston Martin today announced significant new investments towards its long-term future in the United Kingdom. The company confirmed that St Athan in Glamorgan has been chosen as the location for its second manufacturing facility.

With the decision to build the new crossover vehicle in Wales, the company additionally confirmed that production of next-generation sports cars would be focused at its headquarters and manufacturing centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Production of the recently announced all-electric RapidE is also to be located at Gaydon, starting in 2018.

It is anticipated that up to 1,000 new jobs will be created across St Athan and Gaydon between now and 2020. Across the supply chain and local businesses, a further 3,000 jobs will likely be created as a direct result of these investments.

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

First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones said: “I am delighted to officially welcome Aston Martin to Wales. We have been working closely with the company for almost two years in the face of fierce competition from other potential sites across the world. 

Our success today is testament to the reputation, dedication and skills of the Welsh workforce, all qualities that are synonymous with such a luxury, hand-crafted brand as Aston Martin.

“Today is the start of a long-term relationship between Wales and Aston Martin. We will work together in building on the strong foundations of our partnership to nurture a prosperous and rewarding future for this iconic company and its skilled workforce in Wales.”

Prime Minister, David Cameron said: “Aston Martin is an iconic British brand and the decision to invest here shows real confidence in our economy. 

With our economic strengths and easy access to European markets, the UK automotive sector is thriving. It is one of the biggest in Europe – and the most productive – and Aston’s creation of up to 1,000 new jobs in Wales and the West Midlands is welcome news.”

Occupying some 90 acres, the new Aston Martin facility at St Athan will re-purpose some of the facilities currently in use at the site by the Ministry of Defence. 

Centered on the transformation of the three existing ‘super-hangers’ at MOD St Athan, construction work is planned to commence in 2017 with full vehicle production commencing in 2020.

St Athan will be the sole production facility for a new Aston Martin crossover vehicle. A concept crossover vehicle named ‘DBX’ was first shown in early 2015 and showed the company’s intention and direction for this fast-growing segment of the luxury market. 

With growing demand for these types of vehicles in markets such as China and the United States, it is expected that over 90% of the production from St Athan will be exported outside of the United Kingdom.

Aston Martin will commence production in the autumn at Gaydon of the new DB11, the replacement for the iconic DB9 and the first car to be launched under the company’s Second Century plan. 

Over the course of the next five years, the company will both replace and expand its entire sports car portfolio. Starting with DB11, sports car manufacturing will be centered at Gaydon with the facility progressively expanding production to a planned maximum volume of 7,000 sports cars a year by 2020.

New JLR Special Vehicle Operationstechnicle centre to open in Ryton.

• Special Vehicle Operations Technical Centre to be located in Ryton
• 100 new highly-skilled jobs to be filled
• Will create high luxury bespoke commissions and high performance vehicles
• Complements existing research and development activities

Jaguar Land Rover announces that it has chosen Prologis Park, Ryton, near Coventry for the company’s investment in its Special Vehicle Operations Technical Centre.  The facility will be Jaguar Land Rover’s global centre of excellence for the creation of high-end luxury bespoke commissions and extreme performance vehicles.  With operations set to begin towards the end of the year, a team of 150 Jaguar Land Rover specialists will be based at Ryton.  Some 100 of those highly-skilled engineering and technician jobs will be new.  £20 million will be invested in installing specialist equipment and a customer commissioning suite.

The Technical Centre will be part of the company’s Special Operations, created in June under the leadership of John Edwards to focus on meeting the increasing expectations of today's most discerning and enthusiastic Jaguar and Land Rover customers.  Its unique facilities will feature a VIP customer commissioning suite for bespoke services and premium vehicle personalisation, as well as Formula 1-inspired flexible workshops and a specialist paint studio.

Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations, John Edwards, commented: “We are excited by the capability and potential that this new facility will give us.  We will be creating truly iconic vehicles that reinforce the global reputation of both Jaguar and Land Rover brands as we expand our product portfolio and fulfil our ambitious plans.”  

A Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations team of 150 specialists will be based at Oxford Road, creating high luxury, individually-tailored “halo” vehicles.  Of these jobs, some 100 will be newly-created engineering and other highly-skilled operational jobs.  The location will complement Jaguar Land Rover’s engineering, design and testing facilities at Whitley and Gaydon, as well as the new Jaguar Heritage workshop at Browns Lane, Coventry and the company’s advanced manufacturing facilities.   

The first vehicle to roll out of the new SVO workshop will be the Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7, the most powerful and fastest production Jaguar to date.  This is an exclusive product, with just 250 models being made available worldwide.  Each F-TYPE Project 7 will start life at the company’s plant in Castle Bromwich, before transferring to the Special Operations Technical Centre to complete the build by hand.

Jaguar Land Rover continues to deliver on its strategic growth plans, which will see the company investing in 50 new product actions over the next five years.  This includes £1.5 billion to introduce an all-new, technically-advanced aluminium vehicle architecture in forthcoming models, beginning with the new Jaguar XE premium sedan to be manufactured from 2015 at the company's Solihull facility.  The new Land Rover Discovery Sport, which will go on sale in 2015, will be the most versatile and capable vehicle in the compact SUV segment.  It is the first member of an all-new family of Discovery vehicles, inspired by the Discovery Vision Concept which was showcased at the New York International Auto Show in April 2014.

BENTLEY #1 - W12 engine to become a centre of excellence, and produce more for export.

• Bentley to become centre of excellence for W12 engines
• Bentley to export engines for the first time in its history
• 100 jobs across the business to be created

Bentley has firmly reinforced its position as the world’s largest producer of 12 cylinder engines after announcing its Crewe headquarters will become the centre of excellence for the Volkswagen Group for all W12 engine production from the end of 2014 onwards. With this decision, Bentley will export engines for the first time in its history, creating around 100 jobs across the business.

Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley Motors, said: “This is an important step, not just for Bentley but also for the UK manufacturing sector. This W12 centre of excellence is recognition of the long standing engine manufacturing expertise we have that has resulted in performance improvements across the model ranges over recent years. The production of this advanced engine and its future generations will bring new technologies and skills to Crewe.” 

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "Our world beating car industry employs 142,000 people in the UK and is worth £11.2 billion to our economy.

"With more than four out of every five cars made in the UK exported to the rest of the world, the news that Bentley will now export engines as well is another feather in their cap. The Government's Industrial Strategy is supporting world-class companies like Bentley to create highly skilled long term jobs and promote exports." 

The W12 engine is an advanced 12 cylinder high performance engine in a unique ‘W’ configuration. The engine offers high levels of power and torque. Bentley expects to produce up to 9,000 engines per year at peak times.