(2004 – date)

From the start of October 2004, production of engines for Aston Martin was brought back in house following the opening of AM’s first dedicated engine plant. Based in a separate and AM branded building within the much larger Ford Niehl Engine Plant, Cologne, Germany, the 12,500 square metre facility has the capacity to produce upto 5000 engines a year (both V8 and V12) by 100 especially trained personnel. Like with the old V8, assembly of each unit will be entrusted to a single technician from a pool of 30. But unlike the previous Marek V8, the V12 can be assembled in a shade under 20 hours. By bringing engine production back to within the company, the promise is that AM will be able to produce small runs of higher performance variants; a tantalising prospect. Photograph courtesy of Aston Martin