Friday 24th October 2008

Aston Martin Lagondas get the Benz

Aston and Merc join forces

---

DBS to have Mercedes twin-turbo V12 power

Future Aston Martin models seem destined to share powertrain technology with Mercedes-Benz and Maybach as news of a €300 million deal comes to light.

The emerging story follows hard on the heels of news that Mercedes and BMW could begin co-operating on engine technology.

According to reports, a tie-up between the two luxury marques has been masterminded by Aston’s German chairman Dr Ulrich Bez, and Daimler’s chief Dieter Zetsche – and it’s possible the deal could even see Daimler taking a stake in the AML business.

According to the story revealed exclusively by CAR magazine the collaboration will start with Mercedes supplying its twin-turbo V12 for use in the DB9 and DBS – both models are currently powered by Ford.

In return, Aston is likely to provide much of the engineering and design talent for the next generation Maybach saloon, which itself will share a platform and drivetrains with a new range of Lagonda luxury models in the pipeline – including hybrid variants.

AML reportedly has four Lagonda models in its product plan for the next decade, including a saloon car, a four-seat coupe and cabriolet, and even (shudder) a 4x4.

[pagani1]

Mr Horacio Pagani and Ron Dennis at McLaren will be pleased. Fabulous engines nonetheless and Aston have a good deal especially if Mercedes want to invest in Aston. My dream car would be a DB9 with V12AMG aboard.-Yes please daddy.

[chazwozza]

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aston and Merc???? No.

[Maxmpg]

I can only see this as a clever move by AML. Engines for existing models and shared platforms for future models. Makes a lot of sense.

[gumsie]

chazwozza said:

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aston and Merc???? No.

Because??

[Zod]

"According to the story revealed exclusively by CAR magazine"

Don't believe a word of this until you see it printed by a publication that has not wed away its credibility.

[tomTVR]

gumsie said:

chazwozza said:

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aston and Merc???? No.

Because??

Because it would be nice to have at a British luxury car making that doesnt use German engines?

[12joe340]

+1 even tho its not entirely english already

[steve_amv8]

tomTVR said:

gumsie said:

chazwozza said:

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aston and Merc???? No.

Because??

Because it would be nice to have at a British luxury car making that doesnt use German engines?

I assume you do know where the current engines are built?

[tomTVR]

steve_amv8 said:

tomTVR said:

gumsie said:

chazwozza said:

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aston and Merc???? No.

Because??

Because it would be nice to have at a British luxury car making that doesnt use German engines?

I assume you do know where the current engines are built?

Not really a German engine though, in the same way a Z4 isnt an American car.

[clorenzen]

AML needs to survive - this might help them.

[aeropilot]

tomTVR said:

steve_amv8 said:

tomTVR said:

gumsie said:

chazwozza said:

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aston and Merc???? No.

Because??

Because it would be nice to have at a British luxury car making that doesnt use German engines?

I assume you do know where the current engines are built?

Not really a German engine though, in the same way a Z4 isnt an American car.

And the Ford-Cologne V12 isn't used in any other application, so is effectively 'bespoke' Aston-Martin.....as per a Savile Row suit....rather than an off the peg one....as would the MB unit, no matter how good it is.

Sadly......this is the way of the world......it's all about percieved 'image' rather than anything else.

Sad day for the Aston IMHO, if true.

[buddhabelly]

"AML reportedly has four Lagonda models in its product plan for the next decade, including a saloon car, a four-seat coupe and cabriolet, and even (shudder) a 4x4."

lots of models and special editions coming out of AML. Not sure this is the right way to go: special editions are a "cashing-in" exercise, but their downside is that they soak up resources and time, which you would think could be better utilised. Now I am sure the Lagonda business plan shows lots of sales and profits, but it seems a bit of a "machine gun" approach, lets steals sales from ferrari, bentley, porsche and bmw etc.

VAG with hefty balance sheet and different brands makes sense, Aston trying to do it all ... not convinced.

[Matt_]

Where is the Lagonda range going to fit into this? Is it going to be priced to go up against Merc, Audi & BMW?

[dpbird90]

Nooooo! Fair enough, the AMG V12 is great, but what about the amazing noise the current engines make?

[steve_amv8]

aeropilot said:

tomTVR said:

steve_amv8 said:

tomTVR said:

gumsie said:

chazwozza said:

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aston and Merc???? No.

Because??

Because it would be nice to have at a British luxury car making that doesnt use German engines?

I assume you do know where the current engines are built?

Not really a German engine though, in the same way a Z4 isnt an American car.

And the Ford-Cologne V12 isn't used in any other application, so is effectively 'bespoke' Aston-Martin.....as per a Savile Row suit....rather than an off the peg one....as would the MB unit, no matter how good it is.

Sadly......this is the way of the world......it's all about percieved 'image' rather than anything else.

Sad day for the Aston IMHO, if true.

... and who says that the variant of an MB unit won't be tailored in a similar way? Simple fact is that this is the way to survive, whilst distancing themselves from Ford.

[varsas]

Makes sense to me, Aston need advanced engines and the merc units go well with how you expect an aston to go. If they don't use MB engines then, for example, who is going to pay to put direct injection onto the current engine?

[Beefmeister]

I'm guessing the one-77 might use this new engine then?

[kambites]

Sounds like a good idea to me. After all the Zonda doesn't seem to suffer from using a Merc engine.

[sprinter885]

It's a shame with all this "engineering sharing" down to economies of scale that the econonic climate has thrown up.

Certain iconic identities could, at best, blend into some semi-uniform product with only different clothing to separate brands.

I know it's been going on for ages with everybody sharing diesel engines & link-ups between Ford/Alfa & Jap manufacturers but I'd hate to see things have to devolve into the Austin/Morris/MG/Wolseley etc badge engineering of the 70's.

[Healey73]

dpbird90 said:

Nooooo! Fair enough, the AMG V12 is great, but what about the amazing noise the current engines make?

But just think of the noise from a Zonda too. As kambites said, Pagani has no problems with using AMG V12's. And too be honest there is nothing amazing about Aston V12's and especially not the V8. Don't get me wrong I love them but I can only see this as a good thing plus once Aston have breathed a little of their own magic over them I'm sure we will all breathe a sigh of relief.