Category: Aston Martin

The future Aston Rapide has been surprised during testing on the Nurburgring in Germany.

The spotted prototype was featuring a full glass roof for the first time which stretched from a few inches of the windscreen to back window like that of the Rapide concept car unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in 2006.

The Rapide will be the first Aston Martin to be built outside of the UK. After hesitating between Pininfarina, Valmet and Magna Steyr, company executives chose Magna Steyr. Manufacturing to a third-party company will enable Aston Martin to be flexible enough regarding the future demand for the Rapide.

The future executive saloon will share its inner structure with the DB9 and V8 Vantage models and will be powered by the in-house 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine delivering 480bhp. It is also rumoured that the Rapide might feature a smaller hybrid V6 and V8 engine outsourced from Mercedes. The engine will be hooked up to a six-speed gearbox, with both manual and automatic versions.

Aston Martin plans to build 2,000 Rapide annualy.

Tiff Needle drives the DBS and really likes it.

Aston Martin has announced that it will open a new engineering test centre at the N?rburgring circuit in Germany at the end of May of this year.

Along the testing purpose of the new centre, Aston MArtin also considers using the facilities for future customer activities. Everybody can pay £12 to run on the circuit but having a support team not far is always welcome.

Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez, said: “When we open the Aston Martin N?rburgring Test Centre at the end of May this will be our second major new facility in less than 12 months since the company entered new ownership.” Two months ago, the company opened a new design studio in Gaydon.

It is rumoured that Aston Martin development program has suffered from its independence. Under Ford ownership, the British car maker was able to use the Ford facilities to test its future models.

Aston Martin and Mercedes might collaborate to develop new models and new engines. The car maker might even go into the wild by selling branded merchandising.

In an interview with Automotive News, Adham Charanoglu, business development manager for Investment Dar, which is a shareholder of the British car maker said the company has entered into talks with Mercedes and with LVMH’s Louis Vuitton and PPR’s Gucci.

Joining forces with Mercedes is a good news for Aston Martin as the German car maker proved its ability to design and build expensive cars, and sell branded merchandising. Anyway, Charanoglu has set an ambitious plan to increase the company’s sales from £50 million in 2006 to £150 million next year. Aston Martin will increase its production from 7,000 last year to 8,000 this year. He also confirmed indirectly that the future Rapide won’t be built in the UK. “Whatever has been produced in the UK will continue to be produced in the UK,” said Charanoglu.

Charanoglu wants the company to focus on emerging markets such as China, Russia but also in the Middle East. With almost 20% of the Bugatti production only in Dubai, it is certain that Aston Martin can perform well there. Russia already has an Aston Martin dealership, but will get another this year, and China recently opened its first dealership.

Aston Martin has unveiled the Vantage RS model. Powered by a 600bhp V12 6.0-litre borrowed from the DBRS9 racecar, the car runs the 0-62 in less than four seconds and hit a top speed of 200 mph.

Engineers worked hard to reduce weight. The car features a new new carbon fiber pieces for the hood and boot lid. The Vantage RS features a front bumper which has cooling ducts for the carbon ceramic brakes, and a retractable rear spoiler. Despite its heavier engine. the RS saves 220 lbs compared to the standard DB9 and weighs 3,520 lbs. The car has a power-to-weight ratio of 375bhp-per-tonne. That’s better than a Porsche 911 GT2 and Ferrari 430 Scuderia, and only marginally worse than a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.

Aston Martin will build the Vantage RS if there is demand for it.

James Bond will drive once again an Aston Martin in his next movie as the British car maker has announced that the lucky Daniel Craig will drive the DBS model.

Aston Martin CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez, said: “Aston Martin is proud of our long association with James Bond. It is the perfect car for James Bond as it delivers the complete driving experience and bridges the gap between our road and track cars – the DB9 and DBR9.”

Oddly, in the books written by Ian Fleming, James Bond drives a Bentley that he replaces with a Jaguar. Maybe Jaguar should have worked harder to feature the XF in the next James Bond which s scheduled for international theatrical release in November 2008.

Aston Martin has opened is new design center in Gaydon in a move to be more independent from the former owner Ford and reach new markets.

The new design center is part of the ambitious plan set to expand sales globally, especially in emerging markets. It will allow the car maker to design future cars quickly without depending on exterior help and will also be helpful in reducing time development at a time when testing have been lengthened since the company has left the Ford Premier Automotive Group. Likewise if Ford still owns a share in the British carmaker, it is rumoured that Aston in in talks with Mercedes-Benz to share platforms.

In an interview, CEO Dr.Ulrich Benz also said he wants to increase the Gaydon factory’s output to 7,000 vehicles in order to decrease waiting list time. The latest model, the DBS has already been sold at 1,500 units which represents 5 years of production at eh current pace of 300 cars per year. If the British brand wants to increase its sales in emerging market like China or India, it certainly needs more production capacity. It has already planned to outsource the Rapide model’s production to an European coachbuilder.

Would Aston Martin become a luxury commodity such as Prada or D&G, which can be produced anywhere in the world and scorn its heritage? The British car maker would like to think so. The Financial Times reveals that management is investigating the feasibility of manufacturing outside of the UK in the future.

The first model to be concerned by such a surprising move would be the future Rapide, a four-door Aston Martin due to be on sale in 2009. It is said that the car maker contacted a few European coachbuilders. Pinifarina, Magan and Valmet are among them.

This might be a clever move for the British car maker as Gaydon factory is already nearing capacity due to a strong demand for the V8 Vantage. The Rapide is a risk for the Aston Martin, which has not sold a single saloon for the last twenty years. Using a coachbuilder would allow Aston Martin to be flexible enough regarding the future demand for the Rapide.

Aston Martin announced yesterday afternoon that it produced the last Vanquish model yesterday at 11.45 AM. The car is a Vanquish S Ultimate Edition of which the serial number is 502 593. A total of 2,578 cars have been built since spring 2001. At an average price of £150,000, this is an incredible feat.

It is the end of an era for Aston Martin, and not just because of the end of the Vanquish. The Vanquish S Ultimate Edition is also the last car to be built by the legendary Newport Pagnell factory, which closed its doors yesterday evening. Over the almost fifty years since it was set up in 1958, the plant has hand-built more than 13,000 cars.

Production for Aston Martin will now be centralised in the Gaydon factory.