AML announces V8 Supercar - due 2022

[Speedraser]

I completely agree with Murph. I've said it many times, and I'll say it again; Aston Martins should be sports cars and NEVER NEVER NEVER an SUV (DBX included). That, and any other SUV, should be a Lagonda. They have the perfect opportunity with Lagonda to do an SUV without sullying the Aston Martin name. As far as Lagonda not being as well known, that may well be, but that's fixable with good marketing. Lexus had ZERO history/recognition since it didn't exist, and Toyota created an extremely successful brand rather quickly.

[avinalarf]

Speedraser said:

I completely agree with Murph. I've said it many times, and I'll say it again; Aston Martins should be sports cars and NEVER NEVER NEVER an SUV (DBX included). That, and any other SUV, should be a Lagonda. They have the perfect opportunity with Lagonda to do an SUV without sullying the Aston Martin name. As far as Lagonda not being as well known, that may well be, but that's fixable with good marketing. Lexus had ZERO history/recognition since it didn't exist, and Toyota created an extremely successful brand rather quickly.

My heart agrees with the above.
However I can understand that commercial imperatives dictate that AM wants to use the value of its brand to market a vehicle,the SUV,that has proven so successful,for Porsche and Lambo.
I do think that the Lagonda brand may well gain traction,especially as it will be sold in the same showroom as the AM range.
The most important factor will be the appearance and functionality and performance of the SUV.
Let's see how well the Bentley SUV sells,surely the AM SUV will look better than that.
Truth is anyone with a brain would buy the Range Rover.
A bit of a conundrum .

[quench]

jonby said:

Brakke said:

Aston is ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Instead of anouncing utter st like this, let them focus on achieving their goals in the next 2-3 years first and not worry about 2022 for christ'sake.... it just pisses me off. Its soo pretentious and screamy.... rather than that focus on your QA process, your PR, where the hell did the AM track events go??, proper information on new models so potential buyers get interested....

Instead we get this ste.... Im so sorry for this rant as its very unAston, but so is what AM are doing... V8 mid-engine....pffffff laughable.

Firstly, the 488 will have been replaced by 2022

Secondly, even with the added differentiation of vantage replacement to DB11/DBS/vanquish/vanquish replacement, they will still have a fair bit in common.

Aston are gaining traction as serious performance supercar builders with the publicity from vulcan, RB001, GT8/12, etc.

RB001 will, if it hits it's targets, get some incredibly PR for Aston and it's a mid engined car. To not give buyers a chance to buy a more affordable car on the back of that would be daft I would be more surprised if they didn't go down that route than if they did. I agree with some of your criticisms but I'm not sure that should stop them looking at this kind of project

Actually eventually, it makes some sense for Aston to have a mid engine replacement for vantage (the performance car) to sit alongside a front engined GT range - it's considered more exotic in the performance cars and helps Aston move away from comparisons with the likes of F type, Merct GT, etc with Aston 'affordable' sports car

Palmer's ambitions remind me of a watered down version of the infamous Bahar plan at Lotus. With the convenience of the retrospectoscope, Bahar has been largely ridiculed and derided as deluded and bursting with hubris, but what if his plan had succeeded? It was never allowed to get past stage 1, so we will never know. He too, wanted to take his company places it had never been before, and into direct conflict with the established supercar makers.

[Brakke]

jonby said:

Firstly, the 488 will have been replaced by 2022

Secondly, even with the added differentiation of vantage replacement to DB11/DBS/vanquish/vanquish replacement, they will still have a fair bit in common.

Aston are gaining traction as serious performance supercar builders with the publicity from vulcan, RB001, GT8/12, etc.

RB001 will, if it hits it's targets, get some incredibly PR for Aston and it's a mid engined car. To not give buyers a chance to buy a more affordable car on the back of that would be daft I would be more surprised if they didn't go down that route than if they did. I agree with some of your criticisms but I'm not sure that should stop them looking at this kind of project

Actually eventually, it makes some sense for Aston to have a mid engine replacement for vantage (the performance car) to sit alongside a front engined GT range - it's considered more exotic in the performance cars and helps Aston move away from comparisons with the likes of F type, Merct GT, etc with Aston 'affordable' sports car

Im not disagreeing with some of your points, but what in heavens name are they doing wasting their energy and focus with that stuff NOW, while they hardly released the DB11 and have a LOT shorter term targets to aim for....instead they dillute the attention with stuff like this. Release the DB11, get the PR working properly around that, are there manuals coming for that, do their homework, explain if the Vantage will be V12 and/or manual, organize track events with DB11, get customers to come in and feel the brand, create a buzz about the new Vanquish with leaked spy shots or whatever...instead...... Aston are going to maybe make a Mid-engine V8....great.....what the F is the point of knowing that if they cant even tell us in more detail what the near term cars are going to have.....