Aston Martin - Geneva 2015

DBX concept (or something like it) will enable Aston to keep building V8s and V12s - price worth paying?

It often feels like the smaller manufacturers work harder at motor shows, and none more so at Geneva than Aston Martin, which showed no fewer than three new cars and one concept.

DBX is ... is ... necessary?

We knew about the cars already. The almighty Vulcan and Vantage GT3 were pretty much as we had previously reported, and we also got a chance to check out the confirmed-for-Europe Lagonda Taraf in a room at the back of the stand. The big surprise was the DBX, what's described as - buzzword alert - a "crossover coupe." And also one without a conventional engine, instead being propelled by an all-electric powertrain.

Before you get too excited and assemble and angry mob, or phone your Aston dealer to order one (according to preference) - it is just a concept. But Aston's boss Andy Palmer is clear that he is seriously considering putting something similar into production, with a couple of very good reasons. Firstly, because he wants to develop cars with broader appeal than the existing model line-up, especially for female buyers. But also because of the need to continue to improve fuel economy figures.

Just the job for chasing GT3 RSs on a track day

Not being part of a larger car company, Aston finds itself very vulnerable to the need to meet increasingly stringent 'fleet' CO2 and efficiency standards. Granted, this is the same logic once deployed to give us the Toyota iQ based Aston Cygnet. But more thought seems to have been put into the DBX, with Palmer's argument being that "if I build cars like this then it means I can carry on building cars powered with V8 and V12 engines." Logic that's hard to fault.

We also got a chance to spend some time looking at the Vulcan, which looks both very low and very long. The company has also confirmed that, as we hoped, it's name was inspired by the Cold War bomber.