Guide Car: Aston Martin DBX Goes Official, £200 Million Funding Approved

Monday, August 24, 2015

Aston Martin DBX Goes Official, £200 Million Funding Approved

If there’s an annoying voice in the back of your head that whispers to you “it was bound to happen,” well, that voice is right. What the motoring community suspected ever since Aston Martin presented the DBX concept at the Geneva Motor Show has been officially confirmed now.

The British manufacturer announces that Tejara Capital and Investindustrial forked out £200 million ($307 million at current exchange rates) in investment capital as funding for “product expansion.” In other words, the newly issued preference shares are said to enable the production of the Aston Martin DBX luxury crossover.

Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Maserati are all working on ultra-luxury crossover SUVs as we speak, so the British sports car manufacturer’s decision isn’t exactly a sacrilege all things considered. By the looks of things, I suspect that the major shareholders of Aston Martin are betting it all on the growth of this yet-to-be-capitalized segment.

And you know what? From the way the market demand for luxury all-wheel drive vehicles is growing, they made a sure shot bet. The adjacent press release coined the term “luxury GT crossover market,” which is a tell-tale sign Aston Martin studied the feasibility of developing such a model.

Andy Palmer, the chief executive officer of Aston Martin, commented: “The DBX concept has generated interest far beyond our expectations. The additional investment announced today will allow us to realise the DBX and other new luxury vehicles that will form the strongest and most diverse portfolio in our history.”

But will the future model reflect the styling and all-electric powertrain of the concept shown in Geneva?
It’s mum’s guess. It depends on a lot of factors we can’t take into consideration at this moment in time. Our two cents are going on a turbocharged V8 engine sourced by AMG. If engineers will manage to get the funding they need for a hybrid powertrain, then a PHEV Aston Martin DBX could come to fruition as well.

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