Interview with Tobias with some new info...https://www.yahoo.com/autos/aston-ma...155600719.html

- v12 will be phased out
- DBX high performance model on the way
- AM was in worse shape than he thought when he started
- Trio of existing sportscar models will be given heavy facelifts by 2023, but no plans to be given hybridized powerplants before retirement
- Bespoke engine for Valhalla out of the V8 toolbox of AMG
- AM just took whatever Merc sent them (Palmer was such a incompetent dope...my words)

 

Marek Reichman should have been fired. DB11 and new Vantage designs had much to do with the downfall of AM. Aston's should be beautiful, these are not, DBX as well. They wanted the new Vantage to appeal to a younger demographic. Evidently they assumed young people have poor taste.

 

The DBX sales are mostly to dealers who have to pay for their cars after 90 days (up to their old tricks again - dealer sales being counted as customer sales). It will take more than a face-lift, but a new set of models completely to bring back the elegance of the older ones. The market has changed - the Ferrari Roma is more elegant and you open the hood and you have a Ferrari engine. My past Astons (including the three Lagonda's I've owned, and my 6 Vantages), I'd love to show off the engines. The new cars? Open the hood and show off a sea of cheap looking plastic! I buy cars based on the interiors as much as the exteriors. The previous Aston series were incredible places to be - the instrumentation - wow. The newer 'I-Pad' looking screens and dash simply look cheap. My $68K C8 has far better instrumentation. Almost every other car today blows away Aston's interiors. The Ferrari Roma with the option passenger display is super-cool - Aston's lost the mo-jo. Hell, my C8 Corvette is a much nicer place to be than the recent Vantage or DB-11, but not as nice as my past 9 Astons. The Vantage has that automatic, as my C8 has the dual clutch transmission. They 'hang-on' to a gear far too long after flooring the car - to me super irritating. Shifting with the paddles in the C8 and new Vantages pretty soul-less. The Sportshift was ideal - involving, and the manual option for those wanting to be more involved. The C8 makes a nice sound - too bad all that engine bay which needs to be insulated to the cabin all but blocks any sound from reaching the driver - I really miss the Vantage sound. Aston needs to make sure the experience of sound is part of the future - and some form of manual involvement with shifting (future sportshift) makes that experience more special. My C8 passenger seat is a truly awful place to be - tight and claustrophobic - Astons in the future need to make sure the passenger is a very special place to sit as they did somewhat in the past. The C8 is the future benchmark that all others will be (are being) compared to. While having less soul than the Astons of the past for sure, the ride was better than my past 3 V8 Vantages, and 3 V12S Vantages, the handling just as good as them, the power on par with the V12S, and the fuel economy just as good as my 3 Cylinder Buick Encore (20 city and 30 highway). For the cost of one year Aston inspection ($1,800), I extended the bumper-to-bumper warranty to 7 full years. Where Aston blows the C8 out of the running? Nothing today, but in the past - elegance and soul. A face-lift will not cut it Mr. Reichman. You need entirely new design, not a facelift. Also Mr. Reichman - you need to stop gouging customers with $2K annuals to maintain warranties and make those warranties actually mean something. It ain't 2010 anymore. Aston has a chance to redefine the luxury sportscar marketplace, but using existing Mercedes tech, I'm not sure how they can 'one-up' the competition. Anyhow my rant. There will definitely be a 10th Aston in my future, but it won't be the current generation.

 

It's very unfortunate what is happening.

 

I don't get this part:

If AM was limited, then how could they have asked for substantial changes? Or was TM expecting AP to have a bit of a push back?