Although the Aston Martin DBX, the brand's first SUV, likely will be the biggest seller for Aston, the company doesn't plan to put a DBX in every luxury customer's garage.
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said it's his order to limit sales of the DBX to maintain exclusivity. While the company could build more to meet demand, he wants to preserve Aston Martin's standing as a status symbol, he told Australian website CarSales in an interview published Thursday. Palmer said production is capped at 5,000 DBX models for the first year, and many of them will go to current Aston Martin owners. Palmer said 72 percent of Aston Martin owners already have an SUV, and that makes selling the DBX a pretty simple case.
Pre-production Aston Martin DBX
When the Lagonda brand launches its own SUV, the new plant in Wales will boost production to 7,000 units combined between the DBX and Lagonda SUV. Palmer also wants to make sure dealers are prepared to sell an SUV for the first time—especially to customers new to Aston Martin. If all goes well, Aston Martin expects to double its volume to 14,000 vehicles per year from today's level.
Pre-production Aston Martin DBX
Yet, even as Aston Martin prepares a new sports car, a supercar, and a hypercar (the Vanquish, Valhalla, and Valkyrie), some things won't stay. Namely, the Rapide will die off. Palmer said the Lagonda SUV will actually be a replacement for the luxury sedan and noted Rapide was originally a Lagonda nameplate. He called it a "nice transition" to fill the gap. The DBX will also replace the Rapide-E eventually, too, which Palmer said is a luxury experiment. When customers buy it, they agree to report back to Aston Martin on how they use their electric luxury car. The findings will help shape the Lagonda brand.
Pre-production of the DBX has begun at the firm's new Wales facility and the SUV will debut later this year. Look for the vehicle to sport a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 sourced from Mercedes-AMG to start. A V-6 hybrid powertrain from Aston Martin is a possibility in the future.