The future is looking up for Aston Martin as a brand, at least if we base our judgment on a recent report that details the firm’s future ambitions.
Firstly, you’ll be happy to hear that under the new leadership of Andy Palmer, Aston will retain manual gearboxes for the foreseeable future, and that the new twin-turbo V8 from AMG will debut in around two years’ time under the bonnet of an all-new Vantage.
However, that won’t be the first new model to be launched, as it will be preceded in 18 months’ time by a DB9-replacing model. This is said to mirror the design of the DB10 study (pictured) and we presume the Vantage will too, but in a smaller footprint.
The DB9-replacement won’t use an AMG V12 engine, since the current agreement only extends to V8s, but this may change in the future. As things currently stand, we’ll probably see just a heavily revamped version of the current unit.
Interestingly, the combination of the AMG V8 (the new turbo one) with a manual gearbox is something that Mercedes itself doesn’t offer. It will be quite unique, and this fact alone makes us look forward to the car more so than before.
Finally, the last bit of information obtained by Car&Driver from Palmer regards the Lagonda sedan. The Aston boss says he wants it to become “a sedan sub-brand with more than one product.” If the AMG deal extends to those too, and it probably will, then lovers of posh executive saloons have happy days ahead.
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