Aston Martin has great expectations from the DBX, the first SUV in the company’s 106-year history.

Unveiled last month in Los Angeles and Beijing, the Aston Martin DBX has the critical mission of returning the brand to profitability. This is particularly important now after the British carmaker posted losses in two consecutive quarters amid lower-than-expected demand for its core line of sports cars.

Aston Martin has bet everything on the DBX, with CEO Andy Palmer recently increasing the company’s debt to cover the costs for the final development of the SUV ahead of deliveries in mid-2020.

In an interview with Autonews Europe, Palmer claims he is confident the SUV will win Aston Martin new customers and pave the way for new products such as the promised mid-engined sports car and Lagonda EVs.

Related: Aston Martin Opens “Pivotal” St Athan Plant In Wales, Home Of The DBX

The executive estimates DBX sales will reach about 4,000 units in a full calendar year, with a peak of 5,000. This will make it by far the brand’s best seller. For 2020, Palmer expects overall Aston Martin sales to reach 6,000-6,500 units, with the DBX to claim the No. 1 spot despite the fact that its first full sales year will be 2021. Besides the SUV, 2020 sales will be boosted by other new products such as the all-new Vantage Roadster.

Inevitably, the DBX will bring new customers to the brand and most of them will come from China and the United States. Palmer acknowledged that the SUV has been developed with Chinese and American customers in mind, since these two markets will be the biggest ones for the DBX.

The executive is also hoping the DBX will motivate existing owners of Aston Martin sports cars to give up their Range Rovers and Porsche Cayennes. “Today more than 70 percent of Aston Martin customers have an SUV in the garage, so the hard work is already done. We just need to convert those people from their daily driver into an Aston Martin SUV,” he commented.

He also hinted that the DBX will get a hybrid powertrain later on: “We are not yet disclosing our cadence of hybrid rollouts, but by the middle of the 2020s all of our cars will have a hybrid offering.”

Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year
Aston Martin Estimates It’ll Sell Between 4,000 and 5,000 DBX SUVs A Year