 The plan required the construction and development of nine new factories, and investment in the expansion or the capability of the United Kingdom's existing motor vehicle manufacturing plants, to enable them to more quickly turn to aircraft production.Situated between the A45 (on the North East) and the A423 (on the South West) in Warwickshire, the factory became operational from 1940.After the war the site became the headquarters of the Rootes Group, but when the organisation entered financial difficulties in the 1960s, the company (in stages), and thus the plant, were taken over by American car manufacturing giant Chrysler, along with the French manufacturer Simca.