"We're looking for something that breaks the status quo."
Aston Martin means business these days. Aside from the recent launch of the all-new DB11 and the upcoming next generation Vantage and Vanquish, the UK carmaker is also teaming up with Red Bull to build a mid-engined Ferrari 488 GTB fighter. Oh, and there’s a little something called the Valkyrie on the way. In addition, Car and Driver has learned that AM wants to bring back yet another nameplate from its long history, Lagonda. CEO Andy Palmer told C/D that, thanks to a return to profitability, there are now two new Lagonda sedans in the pipeline.
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The goal is to launch them together in 2023. Their targets?Those Bentley and Rolls-Royce sedans that have proven to be highly profitable for parent companies Volkswagen and BMW, respectively. “The truth is, I don’t want either of them to be what you’d call a traditional sedan,” Palmer told C/D. “If we just do another three-box sedan, it’s going to be hard to break into that market. So what I’m challenging the design guys to do is look for something that breaks that duopoly (between Rolls-Royce and Bentley), but which still has appeal to what is a relatively conservative market and still very much a chauffeur-driven market.”
But one thing is for sure: neither will be SUVs, a separate project entirely, currently called the DBX, that AM is also busy developing right now. However, Palmer confirmed that both Lagondas will ride on the same large car platform that’ll underpin the DBX. Aston Martin only very recently offered the very limited production Lagonda Taraf, which was based on the Rapide. This time it seems like Aston Martin isn’t going for limited numbers, something it can’t do if it’s serious about making a dent in Bentley and Rolls-Royce sales. "We're looking for something that breaks the status quo," Palmer summarized.
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Aston Martin means business these days. Aside from the recent launch of the all-new DB11 and the upcoming next generation Vantage and Vanquish, the UK carmaker is also teaming up with Red Bull to build a mid-engined Ferrari 488 GTB fighter. Oh, and there’s a little something called the Valkyrie on the way. In addition, Car and Driver has learned that AM wants to bring back yet another nameplate from its long history, Lagonda. CEO Andy Palmer told C/D that, thanks to a return to profitability, there are now two new Lagonda sedans in the pipeline.
The goal is to launch them together in 2023. Their targets?Those Bentley and Rolls-Royce sedans that have proven to be highly profitable for parent companies Volkswagen and BMW, respectively. “The truth is, I don’t want either of them to be what you’d call a traditional sedan,” Palmer told C/D. “If we just do another three-box sedan, it’s going to be hard to break into that market. So what I’m challenging the design guys to do is look for something that breaks that duopoly (between Rolls-Royce and Bentley), but which still has appeal to what is a relatively conservative market and still very much a chauffeur-driven market.”
But one thing is for sure: neither will be SUVs, a separate project entirely, currently called the DBX, that AM is also busy developing right now. However, Palmer confirmed that both Lagondas will ride on the same large car platform that’ll underpin the DBX. Aston Martin only very recently offered the very limited production Lagonda Taraf, which was based on the Rapide. This time it seems like Aston Martin isn’t going for limited numbers, something it can’t do if it’s serious about making a dent in Bentley and Rolls-Royce sales. "We're looking for something that breaks the status quo," Palmer summarized.
