Birmingham, Britain’s second city in the English West Midlands, has reportedly made a shortlist of potential sites for a new Aston Martin facility.

A report in The Sunday Times newspaper says that Aston Martin is considering a plot in Minworth, Sutton Coldfield (a Birmingham suburb), to build its new 4×4 model. The report said the site is shortlisted alongside sites in Coventry, South Wales and Alabama in the US.

A decision on the site for the second plant will be made by the end of the year, reports say. The new plant is expected to start operations by late 2017.

A plant in the UK would carry supply-chain advantages for the company, but a plant in the US would potentially offer exchange rate and cost advantages as many of the new models sales are expected to be in North America. 

See also: UK: Aston Martin CEO wants "brand reinvention"