Aston Martin will replace the V-8 it currently sources from Mercedes-AMG with an in-house developed V-6, CEO Andy Palmer told Car and Driver in an interview published last week.
The V-6 is related to Aston Martin's 5.2-liter twin-turbocharged V-12 and will feature a displacement of 3.0 liters. It will be augmented by hybrid technology to ensure it matches the performance of the AMG-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8.
Aston Martin's versions of the V-8 come with 503- and 542-horsepower outputs. You'll find it at present in the Vantage and DB11 V8 sports cars and recently revealed DBX SUV.
The first application for the V-6 will be the Valhalla hypercar due for delivery in early 2022. The engine is also pegged for the Vanquish supercar also due in the coming years.
The British firm has never offered a V-6 but has offered inline-6 engines in the past. The last was the DB7 of the 1990s, which offered a 3.2-liter inline-6.
Aston Martin needs to downsize its engines and add hybrid technology in order to meet stricter emissions rules that come into play should the automaker cross the 10,000-unit annual sales threshold, which will likely happen once the more mainstream DBX SUV arrives at dealers. The automaker in 2019 delivered 5,862 vehicles.
However, developing all of its future products has come at a steep cost. The automaker reported a loss of $134 million for 2019 and needed a bailout from Lawrence Stroll, a Canadian billionaire who is also the key backer of the Racing Point Formula One team. With Stroll on board, Racing Point will be turned into an Aston Martin factory team next season. Aston Martin's Lagonda revival has also been put on hold as the automaker's finances recover.
