Lagonda is designed for global market
Aston Martin’s potential investors are being offered the tantalising prospect of a technologically innovative Lagonda brand-relaunch to ‘vastly increase’ the company’s global reach.
News that Aston’s cash-strapped Kuwaiti owners are considering offers for a chunk of the company have been confirmed in a Financial Times report this morning. The story casts an intriguing light on Aston’s decision to reveal a mocked-up Lagonda concept at Geneva yesterday.
The Lagonda concept is an unusually styled but undeniably striking luxury four-door saloon that Aston design director Marek Reichman describes as ‘a fusion of fluid shapes mixed with hard constructed lines.’
Reichman says the concept’s clear delineation between cabin, shoulder and flank is designed to be reminiscent of 1930s Lagondas, and although the vehicle is said to pack a V12 engine and four-wheel drive it has been conceived on an advanced platform tailored to accommodate a range of future powertrains.
‘The revival of Lagonda fulfils a long-term vision and will bring performance luxury into new markets and territories around the world for Aston Martin Lagonda’, says Aston’s press release, which is notably long on Lagonda’s proposed marketing strategy, and short on detail about the car.
‘Ultimately, Lagonda will be a strong presence in 100 global territories, vastly increasing the global brand reach of the company and extending to new customers.
‘Reflecting its remarkable history, the brand will return to Russia, enter emerging markets in the Middle East, South America, India and China, as well as responding to demand from the dynamic, innovation-focused consumers of Europe, North America and the Far East,’ says the blurb.
In contrast, information about the Lagonda concept is less well defined. ‘The Lagonda is the luxury car of the future,’ says Aston’s chief executive Dr Ulrich Bez, ‘a combination of total usability, a new form and innovative new technology and materials.’
Aston promises the Lagonda brand will be committed to new propulsion technologies, new materials and elegant forms. The brand will allow exploration of alternative powertrains including flexfuel, low-emission diesel and hybrid systems.
‘An Aston Martin is an authentic, pure sports car,’ says Dr Bez, ‘but Lagonda is something else, a new brand that will reach into new markets. Lagonda will create a new kind of customer relationship, instilling the spirit of travel, adventure and style into a single, formidable package.’
The latest report that Aston Martin is up for sale again, comes two years after its current owners paid almost £500m to acquire the company from Ford.
The FT claims Aston’s owner Investment Dar is considering selling a stake in the British sportscar builder as part of a ‘debt restructuring’ and the newspaper says there have already been ‘several expressions of interest’.
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