Nearly 200 jobs or 30% of the Aston Martin Lagonda workforce is going at St Athan.
Robin Roberts reports…
The luxury car maker confirmed the losses today (10th March 2021) after Unite spelled out the situation.
New management has taken over at AML and the backers have changed, suggesting it does not have the same financial support it had just 12 months ago when the first DBX SUV models were sent to customers.
The DBX is built exclusively at St Athan which has gradually ramped up jobs and production and orders have been forward booked for a couple of months. When the plant opened in December 2019, AML said it was going to be the company’s centre of electrical excellence and would be building the Langonda coupe in due course, but this has slipped back and the company has said this month that it would be making electric sports cars at its main plant in Gaydon.
At this stage it’s unclear if the Lagonda will now be assembled in St Athan or Gaydon, Warwickshire. Jobs will go between staff and contractors, but it’s not known what will be the effect on production.
The Welsh plant was given £19M by Welsh Governement depending on its job creation and the terms of this assistance will be studied to establish if any money can be reclaimed.
Responding to the announcement of job losses at Aston Martin’s car plant in the Vale of Glamorgan, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Economy, Russell George MS, said, “This is a terrible blow for workers at the Aston Martin site in the Vale of Glamorgan.
This economic project was heavily championed by Labour ministers with nearly £20 million of taxpayers’ cash invested and the promise of creating hundreds of new jobs in the region. But it’s failed to deliver.
Labour ministers must be clear on what’s gone wrong, what demands have been made to Aston Martin on the creation of new jobs in south Wales, and what action has been taken to safeguard Welsh taxpayers’ money.”