Saar: It will be built at the company’s new assembly plant at St Athan, in South Wales.
It is official. Aston Martin will be producing an SUV, which will enter production in late 2019 at the company’s new assembly plant at St Athan, in South Wales, UK. Needless to say, it will become one of the seven models that Aston Martin will launch in a period of seven years. The company calls it the Second Century Plan.
The SUV in question will be based on the DBX Concept that Aston Martin unveiled during the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. Back then, the company’s head honcho, Andy Palmer said that the DBX Concept has been conceived to “challenge the existing status quo in the high luxury GT segment”. But that was nearly three years ago when SUVs like Lamborghini Urus and Rolls-Royce Cullinan weren’t around. The Bentley Bentayga was just six months old. A lot has changed over the last five years in the high-end luxury SUV segment and Aston Martin must have, hopefully, kept a tab on these developments.
Another interesting aspect of the Aston Maritn DBX Concept was its pure-electric powertrain. However, the production model will have anything but. The all-electric powertrains will be used to power EVs from Aston Martin’s revived Lagonda brand. It is certain that Aston Martin will place its SUV more in lines with the Bentayga and not the Urus. That’s why the Aston Martin SUV is expected to come with conventional internal combustion engines and possibly a hybrid. The CEO ruled out the possibility of a plug-in hybrid and diesel powertrains altogether.
Many believe that the production version of the DBX Concept will be built on an all-new platform, designed specifically to cater to a high-riding vehicle. For the body, Aston Martin will use the same construction techniques using extruded and bonded aluminium that it uses to make its sportscars.
If you are wondering why we aren’t calling Aston Martin’s SUV as DBX, that’s because it won’t carry that name. It will probably be dubbed as the Aston Martin Varekai, a name that the company filed for trademark earlier this year. Varekai translates to “wherever” in Romani language, a fitting tag for a model that will establish Aston Martin’s roots in the luxury SUV space.
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