Aston Martin CEO Teases Hybrids and Scales Back EV Plans

Aston Martin is shifting things around a bit, already announcing a next-gen wave of hybrid versions of its sports cars and likely its sole SUV, while scaling back plans to introduce fully-electric models. In a roundtable interview with new Aston CEO Adrian Hallmark last week, things became even clearer. The brand will pivot to offering more versions of its existing models, while focusing investment on new PHEVs and a single EV by the end of the decade. Here's more of what to expect from the man himself.

First up, the new boss wants the team to tackle the number of options offered for each model, and increase the number of special editions and trims that are on offer. From Hallmark: “This is not doctoral research mathematics—I got the team to list out all the options that the competitive brands offer, and then asked to put their list against ours for a gap analysis. The number of options that we didn’t offer is 190, including wheel sets, audio systems, exhaust systems, etc. There’s some options we wouldn’t offer, so taking the brand irrelevant things away (The Rolls-Royce Starlight Headliner was mentioned specifically. — Ed.), it’s well over 100 options. It would be like having another product line for the company, I walked in and it’s like a gold mine. A brilliant opportunity to bring us into the regular behavior of luxury brands over the next one to three years.”

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That means keeping the existing lineup, expanding it with new trims and models, and then sprinkling in some special edition cars here and there. "The plan for five years, Vantage, DB12, Vanquish, DBX, and Valhalla will be a core part of the portfolio, as will a number of specials as we go forward. Maybe not as frequently, and even more differentiated. Within Vantage, there will be multiple versions of Vantage to approach customer needs." But it's a delicate balance, Hallmark points out, as you don't want to over-soften or over-tune. Some models are a better fit for more luxurious trims where others, like the Vantage or Valhalla, will stick to sportiness in their differentiation methods.

Another specific model under Hallmark's plan is the DBX, the sole SUV on offer from Aston Martin. It will continue to be the only SUV the company produces for now, but with more differentiation, according to Hallmark: "There will be power differentiation, and in terms of ride dynamics and handling, I’m constantly amazed at how good the DBX is, but when you slow down, it’s less relaxing than some of our competitors. We’ve got the bandwidth of the tuning of the DBX perfect for 60 to 155 mph, but when you slow down, it could be better. We can tune our cars so that most mortals up to 120 mph would get exactly the same feeling as today, but sub-40 mph we could make it better."

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Coming from Bentley, Hallmark brought up the notion of building an Aston sedan, since sedans are a decent chunk of Bentley's order bank every year. The short answer is no, not happening, according to Hallmark: "DBX is the growth opportunity. SUVs are still the biggest segment in luxury. They’re not the most image-building, but in terms of sales, more than 50 percent are SUVs. We see a huge opportunity there. Looking at sedans, there’s only two that are successful, and they don’t really sell in Europe. It would have to be for China and the U.S., but it’s a small segment and you’ve got to put in half a billion for how many car sales? It wouldn’t be a core product, performance first with craftsmanship and luxury is the brand."

For the other models in the lineup, they will be refreshed in the coming years with hybrid options, according to Hallmark, and it's possible to do it on the existing vehicle frames: "There could be a mild hybrid option for some derivatives, but PHEV will be the core in our first-step strategy. The great thing about these cars is not a conventional regular vehicle structure, it’s nodal castings with extrusions that connect them together, with big subframes into those nodes, and then braces across. We’re flexible to elongate and raise the geometry of the vehicle to package what we need. We can hybridize the current lineup in quite an efficient way," Hallmark promises.

Where will the hybrid technology come from? Well it won't be from Lucid, which is still a strategic partner for the planned EV due by 2030; and it won't be from Mercedes, which is already a powertrain partner supplying engines with its own hybrid models already on sale. Instead, Aston is working with suppliers on its own battery and motor setup for its future PHEVs. Expect to see more luxurious model derivatives and more options in the next one to three years, with at least one new PHEV and the new pure EV arriving in the next five years. Hallmark sees the V-12 surviving in limited quantities until at least 2032, sees hybrids extending beyond 2035 if they're successful, and sees the brand expanding electrified offerings from 2030 on.