Aston Martin DBX crossover may be built in the USA – report

The Financial Times claims that Aston Martin is being actively courted by a number of southern US states, which have been stung in recent times, as many automakers have decided to invest in facilities in Mexico rather than break new ground or expand current facilities in the US.

If Aston Martin does decide to make its DBX crossover in the US, it would realise many of the same benefits that enticed BMW and Mercedes-Benz to make their X5 and M-Class (now GLE-Class) SUVs in the American south. These include non-unionised labour, administrations friendly to large corporations, tax breaks and, of course, producing SUVs right in the heart of one of the biggest single markets for high-riding wagons.

Despite these obvious upsides, a source says that Aston Martin may decide to produce the DBX in the mother country because doing otherwise could ruin the Britishness of the brand. That said, the Rapide was outsourced to Magna Steyr's plant in Austria for a number of years.

Regardless of whether the DBX is made in the US, back in the home country or elsewhere, Aston Martin has little option but to produce to the new crossover outside of its existing Gaydon plant.

The financial newspaper claims that Aston's Gaydon factory and headquarters has little room for expansion as it's located right next door to Jaguar Land Rover's main engineering hub, which itself is rapidly gobbling up what little room there is for physical growth.

According to AutoGuide, growth plans drawn up by Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer call for the company's annual output to rise to 15,000 units per year, a big jump up from the 4000 sold last year. The company's sports car production at Gaydon will in turn be capped at about 7000 cars per annum, with the difference made up for by the DBX SUVs and, presumably, Lagonda sedans that will replace the Rapide.