Aston Martin has confirmed that it will lay off 95 full-time workers at its new DBX production facility in St Athan, Wales.
The job cuts form part of a previously announced downsizing strategy that will see the firm make 500 lay-offs and cut operating costs by £10 million as part of a plan to return to profitability.
An unspecified number of contractors at the St Athan plant, reported by Wales Online to be in excess of 100, will also be released.
The St Athan facility only began full-scale series production in summer last year, but Aston is now aiming to bring its cost base in line with reduced production levels of its sports car lines. More recently, the firm announced that its sales dropped 32% in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, contributing to an overall operating loss of £323m.
New CEO Tobias Moers plans to leverage the firm's extended relationship with Mercedes-AMG to accelerate Aston's electrification ambitions, with a hybrid version of the DBX due to arrive later this year, and a new AMG-engined version of the Valhalla supercar set to be shown in the coming months.
It has also recently emerged that Aston Martin will build its first pure-electric models - an SUV and a 'front-engined' sports car - in the UK, rather than Germany. The former will be built at St Athan and the latter at the firm's existing headquarters in Gaydon.
An official statement released by the brand read: "Aston Martin moves into a new era, with new investment and a new business plan to position the company for success, and to operate as a self-sustaining business in the near future.
"In order to secure the future of its Gaydon and St Athan manufacturing facilities, Aston Martin continues to execute on actions to improve the cost efficiency of the business, in alignment with its transformation plan. 'Project Horizon' has been launched to revitalise its products and deliver a level of operational excellence, agility and efficiency throughout every aspect of the organisation.
"Aston Martin has issued an HR1 [notification of more than 20 redundancies] for its St Athan facility and has launched an employee and trade union consultation process."
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