From Roma with love | PH Footnote
Ferrari's new '2+' GT couldn't have come at a worse time for Aston Martin...
Thanks to the relentlessness of modern life cycles, launches like this week's Ferrari Roma are years in the planning. Denied the day-to-day flexibility to react to their rivals like a supermarket chain pricing petrol, car manufacturers place their bets well in advance and then cross their corporate fingers. Back when the Roma entered its initial design and development stages, Ferrari would likely have guessed at where it would rivals would be upon completion. But few would have foreseen the scale of the challenge currently facing Aston Martin.
By virtue of miraculous strategic vision or fortuitous good luck (for the Italians, at least) Ferrari now finds itself launching a model which strikes right at the heart of Aston's core market, just at the British brand endures one of its most tumultuous periods in recent times.
The company's share price has fallen by nearly 75 per cent since it floated on the stock market last year; it has seen a £20.8 million profit in the first half of 2018 turn into a £78.8 million pre-tax loss in the same period this year. More than £3 billion has been wiped off its overall value and, with Brexit uncertainty continuing to dent its forecasts, the company has found itself taking out a £120 million loan just to help see its now-make-or-break DBX SUV across the line.
The Roma is by no means alone in encroaching on Aston's territory. But while McLaren's recent foray into GT cars won't necessarily have set alarm bells ringing in Gaydon, Ferrari's certainly will. Aston, of course, is planning its own land-grab with a forthcoming series of mid-engined super and hypercars. - although at the current rate of progress, the introduction of the Valkyrie, Vanquish and Valhalla seems very far away indeed.
Things will appear even more perilous if Ferrari manages to coax significant portion of DB11 (and perhaps even Vanquish) customers into the Roma. Certainly that is the plan, with Maranello freely admitting that the new model was designed with new customers in mind.
Its styling is either classically beautiful or generically inoffensive depending on how you look at it; either way the heavy overtones of Aston and Jaguar are hard to miss. Combine that with a front-mid-mounted V8 that has won International Engine of the Year a record four times running and the best power to weight ratio in its class - not to mention the generous three-year unlimited mileage warranty and seven-year servicing package that Ferrari throws in with the purchase of every new car - and it looks a formidable prospect.
Moreover, as Ferrari bides its time over the launch of its 'FUV' crossover, and Aston scrambles to bring the DBX to market, it's hard to see how this week's developments in Rome could have been better timed to torment the decision makers in Gaydon. Aston's Second Century plan, once a vision of excitement and positivity, is only five years old - but it will require increasingly careful navigation to see the brand prosper in all its intended markets.
At the same price point I'd take a Roma over and Aston any day of the week. But Astons only trump card will be you can have one quickly compared to the Roma, which will no doubt have a waiting list?
It's a real shame for Aston Martin. I really wish they could just hit the sweet spot it's rivals always seem to do.
Now if Porsche brought out a re-imagined 928GT, that would probably be the end of Aston Martin, as that and the Roma would just eat most of the sales.
It is a real shame Aston is running into trouble. Palmer has worked wonders and been bold. But it would seem there is a lot to support a tie up. Their ranges do not overlap, JLR has the capacity and engines. Aston can bring hairdryers to the Jag range, the DBX could have been plonked on a Land Rover platform, without needing to build a new factory. Aston brings class to JLR and JLR brings economies of scale and capacity.
I really hope that Aston and JLR see their current problems through rather thsn being consumed by zee Germans. They do their thing well but consumers need diversity and range of innovation and independent thinking rather than badges stemming from BMW or VW.
The Vantage was a huge blunder. This Ferrari shows why. Styling.
And improve your interiors for the old fashioned clientele.
It's not fecking rocket science
the current Vantage looks like a pigs abortion.
Sorry but it's true., and beng so ugly you can no longer ask for more money than the Porsche
Who signed off the Vantage? They need to to be put out for farrow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo
The Vantage was a huge blunder. This Ferrari shows why. Styling.
And improve your interiors for the old fashioned clientele.
It's not fecking rocket science
the current Vantage looks like a pigs abortion.
Sorry but it's true., and beng so ugly you can no longer ask for more money than the Porsche
Who signed off the Vantage? They need to to be put out for farrow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo
And why the obsession (generally, on this thread and previous ones) with mentioning the Vantage alongside the Roma? The Roma is likely to be £180k; about 50% more than a Vantage. You could have a very well specced DB11 for £180k, if anything that is Aston's closest competitor. If you're buying at £100k+ it's probably neither here nor there, but the Vantage is not a Roma competitor.
The only issue, and the reason I say probably, is that the California, which was a sort of similar everyday Ferrari concept, was not well received critically and this seems to have hit residuals.
I agree that it’s a very restrained look, but it means it’ll age very gracefully. That matters if you actually want to keep something forever.
Shame the Bentley EXP10 Speed Six concept will never see the light of day. If they dared to shove a W12 in it I would’ve been all over it.
(Stop comparing the Roma with the Vantage - they're in a completely different market segment. Vantage is £120k plus the bits and is a two seater. The Roma is £170k plus options and is a 2+2)
The Vantage was a huge blunder. This Ferrari shows why. Styling.
And improve your interiors for the old fashioned clientele.
It's not fecking rocket science
the current Vantage looks like a pigs abortion.
Sorry but it's true., and beng so ugly you can no longer ask for more money than the Porsche
Who signed off the Vantage? They need to to be put out for farrow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo
The concept showed potential, only for idiotic fussy design details to ruin the shape of the car.
And let's not start on the interior and the C Class engine...
Such a faux pas, no wonder the share price fell through the floor.
Aston may be old school, Jag a poor man’s Aston (and still guaranteed to strand you at the side of the road on occasion) and Porsche build some God-ugly motors (Cayenne, Macan, especially Panamera) but this is a good looking Fezza from the rear, OK from the side and horrific from the front.
Ferrari used to build elegant fast sports cars, now it seems to have lost the plot.
The Roma doesn’t look like a Ferrari, it looks like some kind of amalgamation of at least three other brands. Take the badge off it and there’s no way you would know it was a Ferrari other than say the wheels.
I would take the AM equivalent all day long.
I wish AM the best - too many people are way too negative about a brand we should be proud of. They’ve made some fantastic cars over the years, I for one hope the DBX sells well.
The Vantage was a huge blunder. This Ferrari shows why. Styling.
And improve your interiors for the old fashioned clientele.
It's not fecking rocket science
the current Vantage looks like a pigs abortion.
Sorry but it's true., and beng so ugly you can no longer ask for more money than the Porsche
Who signed off the Vantage? They need to to be put out for farrow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo
The concept showed potential, only for idiotic fussy design details to ruin the shape of the car.
And let's not start on the interior and the C Class engine...
Such a faux pas, no wonder the share price fell through the floor.
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