Aston Martin Could Have Sold Nearly 1,000 Valkyries, But It’ll Make Just 150

Aston Martin has announced that its Valkyrie hypercar will be a limited run of 150 units but, as it turns out, it could have sold many, many more.

Talking to Car Sales, Aston Martin chief executive Andy Palmer admitted that the British car manufacturer underestimated the demand for its industry-redefining hypercar.

“When we started discussing Valkyrie volumes we thought we might do 24 or 59. Then we said, OK, maybe we’ll sell 100, well let’s try for 150… It’s then I realized I could have sold that car five or six times over and you kick yourself. And it is really painful, sometimes and one of the things I keep promising myself is that we say we’re going to do 150 and we don’t do 151 – I think it’s really important that when you make a promise, you keep it. When people are writing a big check, you have to live up to it.”

Also Read: Aston Martin Will Attempt A Nurburgring Lap Record With The Valkyrie

While Palmer admits that it would have generated much more revenue if it built upwards of 900 examples, he insists that the Valkyrie isn’t just about making money. In fact, it is much more important to Aston than a few hundred million more, because it acts as the centerpiece for the company’s new direction.

“Every turnaround plan needs a flag to rally around and to a large extent the Valkyrie was has been that flag,” he said. “People at Aston were always good. I inherited a good bunch but they had their tails between their legs and they were behaving like lost souls. I needed to give the company something to get its swagger back.”

Palmer says that Aston Martin’s team handpicked which applicants would actually be given the oppoprtunity to get the Valkyrie in a bid to ensure it ends up in the hands of the right customers. Each Valkyrie owner has also had to sign a contract confirming that they won’t flip the vehicle for a year; although, realistically speaking, we do expect some build slots or “slightly used” (ahem!) cars to pop up, contract or no contract.