Archive for Aston Martin

Future Aston Martins could use Mercedes Benz technologies, as the luxury carmaker has had talks with the Daimler AG luxury automobile arm. It also wants to increase its production up to 8,000 cars in 2008 to 2009, up from 7,000 a year in 2007, which would creep very near its Gaydon plant maximum capacity of 9,000 units a year.

The British luxury carmaker is also in talks with LVMH’s Louis Vuitton and PPR’s Gucci on an overhaul of Aston Martin’s merchandise business. The company plans to increase merchandising revenue to US$300 million by 2009, from about US$100 million in 2006.

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We spotted this beautiful car at the recent Porsche Cayenne facelift launch at Bukit Kiara Equestrian Country Club. Aston Martins are generally not known for much of their technical specification. Not exactly a car for geeks to drool over the latest in technology, unlike cars like the Porsche 911 Turbo with turbines made of space age material and what not. Yet there’s just something special about Aston Martins and their design language that turns heads.

If I’m not mistaken, there are only two Aston Martin DB9s in KL. This is the second one, and I do not know who owns it. The first DB9 belongs to J.P. Chin, and has the number plate “DB9″. UPDATE: Reader Daniel Tin wrote in to inform that there is a third Aston Martin DB9 in the country with number plate MAY18.

Three lucky owners, are there any more?

Check out more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Aston Martin DB9 in KL

Aston Martin will be procuring Volvo’s help to develop the Aston Martin Rapide 4-door sedan’s safety system. Volvo’s safety engineering expertise was also used previously on the DB9 and V8 Vantage models. Volvo will develop a stiff aluminium structure for the Aston Martin Rapide. This includes designing the B-pillar and side-members to optimise occupant safety during side impact collisions.

Aston Martin hopes the new Rapide will add on about 1,000 to 2,000 units to the niche carmaker’s current production levels, helping with economies of scale as well as sales. It intends to launch the new Aston Martin Rapide in late 2008, hopefully before Porsche launches it’s competitors the Porsche Panamera.

Click here for more details on the Aston Martin Rapide concept.

In my updates on the Porsche Panamera, I will usually mention two competitors, the CLS and the Aston Martin Rapide. But then I realise I haven’t actually posted anything about the Rapide have I? Basically, the Aston Martin Rapide is a 4-door coupe concept that’s set to go into production, expected to account for between 1,000 to 2,000 units annually. This will bring Aston Martin’s yearly production up to 7,000 units.

Aston Martin is pretty much an independant automaker now, but Ford still retains a 8% stake. More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Aston Martin Rapide 4-door Coupe

And Aston Martin goes to… Prodrive! The bid for Aston Martin was won by a consortium of private investors headed by David Richards who heads Prodrive, a British automotive company that tunes cars and manages Aston Martin’s racing team. Perhaps for readers of this blog, you might know Prodrive best by their exciting creation, the Prodrive P2.

Cash-strapped Ford would welcome the US$870 million or so that this sale would bring it. Financially, the consortium is backed up by Kuwaiti firms Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co. The deal also involves details on sourcing, including the somewhat shared DNA of Aston Martins and Jaguar’s sports car, as well as the supply of Aston Martin’s engines from a Ford plant in Germany. Ford will retain a 15 percent stake in the British luxury automaker.