As part of its six-year revival plan, Aston Martin will develop a new crossover model and two platforms which its future models will sit on. The British luxury carmaker will also be looking to draw on the technical expertise of the Daimler group as part of an agreement made in 2013.
Speaking to Automotive News Europe, CEO Andy Palmer commented that the firm "needs to be less dependent on a narrow product portfolio. It sounds contentious to say Aston Martin is going into crossovers, but sometimes that is what you have to do." The aforementioned crossover will be based on the Aston Martin DBX Concept, first previewed at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show in March.
The first crossover by Aston Martin is expected to arrive on the scene come 2019 and will ride on one of the two new mentioned platforms. While the concept itself was a fully-electric, all-wheel drive show car, details surrounding the production model's powertrain options remain unconfirmed. Expect a conventional combustion engine to be augmented by a hybrid setup of some sort.
Aside from a crossover, Aston Martin will also be looking to introduce a sedan along with a new model to help spur on global sales. All three models will be based on one of the two aforementioned platforms with the second one slated to underpin refreshed variants of the models currently on sale - the first of which is scheduled to arrive by the third quarter of 2016.
Rumours are circulating that said model could be the next-gen Aston Martin DB9 - a situation further fuelled by the existence of mysterious Aston test mules running about. The DB9, launched in 2003, failed to sell in the numbers that would've allowed Aston the funds to develop and replace its ageing models prompting the marque's shareholders to inject a total of £150 million (RM811 million) to the cause.
The marque will also turn to the Daimler group, specifically Mercedes-Benz, for technology on the latest infotainment and safety systems. Apart from tech platforms, Aston Martin will also source units of the 4.0 litre turbocharged V8 engine from the Mercedes-AMG division.
GALLERY: Aston Martin DBX Concept
GALLERY: Aston Martin Lagonda
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