Aston Martin is considering building a second assembly plant for its upcoming crossover and the US is one of the favorite locations. According to CEO Andy Palmer, Aston Martin will make a decision by the end of the year.
The executive told Autonews Europe that the State of Alabama is the “obvious choice” for a new plant to build the forthcoming DBX crossover. However, he added that a decision has not been made yet.
So why is Alabama an “obvious choice”? According to Palmer, Aston Martin is looking at potential locations in regions where it will sell the most DBX models. “Our principal customers will be in the United States and China,” he said.
Since setting up an assembly plant in China is a more difficult enterprise because of the country’s joint-venture policy and exporting vehicles from the United States is easier, the latter country will likely be chosen.
Again, why Alabama? Because it would be close to where Mercedes-Benz builds SUVs and, as you probably know, Daimler has received a 5 percent stake in Aston Martin in exchange for supplying high-performance V8 engines and electronic architectures for the firm’s next generation of sports cars, likely to launch starting next year.
The DBX should arrive in 2019 as part of Aston Martin’s plans to increase annual vehicle sales to 15,000, up from 4,000 last year. If the US plant gets built, it will likely assemble the DBX from kits using parts shipped from the Gaydon plant in the UK.
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