Yes! New Caterham factory will boost production capacity by half

Caterham will mark its 50th anniversary by moving into a new factory at the end of 2023, and the big takeaway from this development is that it will soon be able to populate our roads with even more Sevens. Rejoice!

Yup, the sports car maker claims that the new 54,000sq ft facility - built on a nine-acre industrial site just down the road from its current base in Dartford, Kent - will bump up its production capacity by 50 per cent, giving it the ability to assemble up to 750 cars a year.

The new digs will house production, engineering, motorsport and commercial teams under one roof, and Caterham says it'll use the site to host everything from vehicle handovers to factory tours.

The move has been made possible by ‘multi million-pound investment’ from owners VT Holdings, a big Japanese retailing group that took control of the company two years ago.

“It’s fitting that, in our 50th anniversary year, we can invest in new premises to facilitate our ambitions, for the future of the Seven and the brand as a whole,” said Caterham CEO Bob Laishley.

“The site not only increases our production capacity but enables us to advance our manufacturing capabilities into a modern setting. It will be a fantastic new home for the brand, our employees and our customers past, present and future to visit.”

Caterham began life in 1973 with cars built in the sleepy Surrey town of - you guessed it - Caterham, but operations moved to Dartford in 1987 where the company has lived ever since.

Which reminds us, it's almost 10 years since TG proved none of those specialist facilities were strictly necessary... by building a Seven 160 in the office. How time flies.