Not one, not two but three new Astons at Geneva.......

[jonby]

https://twitter.com/page13dbr/status/5726676971562...

Suggestions of a high riding 4 seater but not quite a full blown SUV

Reveal at 10.15am

More on future strategy here

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/motor-shows/aston-m...

Edited by jonby on Tuesday 3rd March 08:04

[jonby]

It's very much a concept - all electric for a start

It's 'ok' - certainly not as bad as some may fear

But again, a concept, not a prod ready car

[jonby]

IanV12VR said:

Have you seen it Jonby?

PICs on twitter for the last 30 mins showing reveal

https://twitter.com/TopGearEditor/status/572697278...

https://twitter.com/ytimesmotoring/status/57269728...
https://twitter.com/TheDanProsser/status/572694792...

[jonby]

IanV12VR said:

Ha! don't do Twitter. Perhaps should. I quite like it. The interior looks very different! Will be interesting to hear the feedback.

interior better than exterior

you need to view this car in context

there is an interview from the last 24 hrs where they say aim is to go for 3 distinct markets - sports cars (and conventional GTs I assume), saloons (eg Taraf) and this 'crossover market' as per the concept, which they keep saying is aimed at being more female friendly than Aston's (and others') current ranges

[jonby]

hashluck said:

I was a bit worried about the Aston SUV idea but if they decide they have to have one in the range (for that broader appeal) then it could be a lot worse. Actually can see it growing on me. Almost got shooting brake lines of some of the old Fsr East/Middle East specials they did. Not a bad effort.

Could actually be a great DD but not sure how representative this is of what a future model may look like, particularly the drive train which is a 'new' interpretation of electric

I wonder what platform this is built on ?

[jonby]

It's not attempting to be a sports car in a conventional sense

It doesn't look nearly as generic as many of the other manufacturer's crossovers

I think for the type of car, it looks pretty good

But if Aston wanted to build a production version using the electrical underpinnings of the concept, it is surely 5+ yrs away ?

Which means the only chance of something similar to this hitting the roads soon is if it has a combustion engine

[jonby]

I am going to Geneva as usual next week and am hugely looking forward to it, including the Aston stand, but there is an interesting observation

Once you get past the excitement of all the new cars and analyse what's on the stand a little more objectively, you have
1) A completely sold out run of 100 GT3 cars
2) A track car out of reach to 99.9something % of the population at the best part of £2mil
3) A saloon (Taraf) that is limited to 200 units and will cost most buyers £500k+
4) The DBX concept car that won't ever be made
5) Possibly a DB10 at Geneva, which will never be sold

So in fact, for those with up to say £250k to spend on a sports car/GT/saloon/any car, AML have absolutely nothing new to offer - the choice is buying near to the end of their life Vantages & DB9s or Vanquish which is newer but probably not going to be made in the same format for many more years before the new stuff starts taking over

It's an amazing amount of publicity considering how little of it is available for you & I to actually buy


However to be fair, it's not unique to Aston

Porsche are showing 2 new cars: Cayman GT4 & 991 GT3 RS. Both are relatively affordable or even good value, both are likely to be reviewed incredibly well when the journos get their hands on them in a few weeks time and both were sold out before Geneva even opened it's doors

Porsche, like Aston, will generate a lot of publicity from these two cars but the only people ever likely to drive them are 918 owners (who had first dibs on both cars), very early depositors/repeat customers who have had their name down on GT4 for a long long time (they are making more GT4s than GT3RSs), or car journos

Meaning that if you or I actually want to buy a Porsche 2 door car, you have to buy one of the vanilla cars that's about to be replaced with the gen 2 variants (boxter, cayman & 911)

[jonby]

AMDBSNick said:

I'd bin it Jonby and go to Cheltenham, I know where I will be

Ha ! sounds like fun

To be fair, I'm not going to Geneva to buy - there is a lot of great stuff this year to look at, including more budget stuff

But it is an interesting situation - McLaren's 675 LT is sold out and I understand NSX has a 3 yr waiting list even though there is no price yet. The Ford GT will presumably be almost impossible to buy

More than ever, there seem to be a significant number of cars launching to the public for the first time at a motor show, in many instances launching for the first time to journos too, which nobody can actually buy

[jonby]

speech said:

avinalarf said:

I am a bit fed up with all these concept cars etc. and becoming a bit disallusioned with the whole thing.
I just hope AM will bring out a good looking sports car and a GT in the near future that we actually are able or want to buy.
As usual Jonby makes some very good points.

Edited by avinalarf on Wednesday 4th March 11:49

Well, we know the new models aren't ready to be shown yet so their options are to have the same cars they've been showing for the last 10 years that nobody will pay any attention to or show some concepts that will grab a few headlines.

And I'm sure Andy Palmer is getting some "interesting" feedback on the DB10 and DBX that can be used to influence the designs of the next generation of cars. Even if that influence is "bin it all and start again", it's better to do that now than when launching the next production models and finding everyone hates them.

Agree absolutely - we know & understand why they aren't ready for the new 'regular' products and as you say, they have to do something inbetween - this is as good a way of dealing with the situation as any. I'm not necessarily knocking them for anything. The person who said that Aston tend to operate in cycles and that we are at the end of one/start of another is spot on

The fact still remains that on the surface (eg in the press, at Geneva, etc) it looks like there is loads of new exciting stuff going on at the factory but for anyone walking into the showrooms, it's still same old same old.