BBC_Top_Gear_South_Africa_June_2017

“ The DBX will take
Aston Martin into new
territory with bold
engineering and tech”
#2: Andy Palmer
Things move fast in the world of luxury
cars, and with the sheer pace of
technological change and the volatile state
of the global economy, we at Aston Martin
need to work hard to stay ahead of the
game. We’re now two years into our
Second Century Plan. The idea is to make
a sustainable business for the next 100
years: expanding it, developing new products and building new
partnerships.
A new generation of luxury customers are coming. They like the
Aston Martin brand, but are looking for something different. This is
where our new SUV, the DBX, comes in. The DBX will take Aston
Martin into new territory with bold engineering and technology, while
retaining the essence of what makes Aston Martin so special: beautiful,
powerful, hand-crafted cars.
Autonomous vehicles regularly make the headlines, and though I
believe we’re a long way from true autonomy, the technologies are
evolving rapidly. With 95 per cent of road traffic accidents caused by
human error, you can see how these developments are so vital. We are
already working on autonomous technologies that still preserve the joy
of driving for a high-performance car. We are also remaining true to
our sporting origins, for example, by always having a manual
transmission car in our range.
Quality is more important than ever so we have raised our game
even higher as our customers demand perfection. And we are exploring
new technological frontiers with our Innovation Partnership with Red
Bull Racing. First deployed with the Aston Martin Valkyrie, a truly
astonishing next-gen hypercar that sold out as soon as it was
announced.
Our customers also want an emotional connection to the brand.
The “Art of Living by Aston Martin” takes ownership beyond sports
cars and creates experiences through a series of bespoke events and
products. From powerboats to luxury apartments, bespoke holidays and
the Aston Martin brand centre in Dover Street, London.
2017 looks set to be another vintage year for Aston Martin… or should
that be a “Vantage” year? The Second Century Plan delivers a new model
every nine months for the next six years. Last year we launched the Aston
Martin DB11, and 2017 will be the year we reveal the new Vantage.
The Vantage is our weapon of choice on the racetrack, and we will
see it in action with the championship-winning Aston Martin Racing
team this month. Such has been the success of our racing endeavours,
we have named our new performance brand AMR, which will amplify
our sporting prowess across the Aston Martin model range, starting
with the Rapide AMR and Vantage AMR Pro.
As we extend our range we have invested heavily in our future, not
least in the development of our second manufacturing facility. At the
beginning of April we took ownership of three super hangars that
were part of the former military air base at St Athan in Wales. This is
where we will build the Aston Martin DBX with the first car on target
to come off the new production line in 2019.
Before work got started on turning the hangars into a car plant,
some of our drivers took the opportunity to let out their inner “hoon”.
With all that space, it would have been rude not to, so three talented
drivers – Darren Turner, Nicki Thiim and
Matt Becker – took some
Aston Martins for a
joyride.
JUNE 2017
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