Development has formally begun on two all-new mid-engined Aston Martin supercars, with the Vanquish and Valhalla becoming live engineering projects, company boss Tobias Moers has confirmed to Autocar.
In his first interview since becoming CEO in August last year, the former Mercedes-AMG chief outlined his Project Horizon vision for the British brand.
This includes “more than 10 cars” before the end of 2023, the cancellation of some of the previous management’s projects – including a bespoke new V6 engine and relaunching Lagonda as a super-luxury EV brand – and a push towards improving the quality and dynamic performance of Aston models, which is already yielding results.
The Ferrari F8 Tributo-rivalling Vanquish and more potent Valhalla are the flagship projects of this new era for Aston. Both were first seen as concept cars in 2019 and were planned to use the new V6. With this project now cancelled, the supercars will instead use hybrid drivetrains sourced from AMG as part of an expanded technical partnership between Aston and Mercedes’ performance arm.
“Both will now look different but cool still and better,” said Moers of the Vanquish and Valhalla. Regarding the V6, he said: “I found a concept engine that wasn’t Euro 7- capable. It would have taken another huge investment that was really too big to bring to life.”
He continued: “We shouldn’t put money into that. We should instead put money into electrification, batteries and the expansion of our portfolio. The intention is to be a self-sustaining company, although always with a partnership.”
Such a goal is “all possible” to be achieved by 2024 or 2025, according to Moers.
He said that the expansion will start with the launch of the Valkyrie hypercar in the second half of this year in road and track forms, before a third variant – likely to be a convertible – follows in 2022.
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it will be the forced change to EV's that rips the heart out of Aston as that glorious sound will be gone, as will any real character to the drivetrain. Just instant linear torque like any other car.
It wont just be Aston that suffers, all high end sports cars will, especially Ferrari.
So turning Aston into a badged Benz is just early adoption of the EV future, a bit bland.
Would be much better if these makers could continue to produce ICE engined cars, as the CO2 impact globally probably wouldn't be measurable. However that would just get slammed as pandering to the rich. Even though I'll never be able to afford an Aston, Ferrari etc. I will miss seeing and hearing them...
Stroll talks about Aston Martin's iconic status in glowing terms and then starts blethering on about British heritage - to him that means a bit of James Bond aura surrounding some customised Benzes. Doesn't he realise that marque heritage resides in its engineering and not just its pretty styling? He even says, we can just buy in components from MB. He's as misguided as Ulrich Bez was in thinking that you could pass off a Toyota as an 'Aston Martin Cygnet'. It might work for a while but it will erode everything that makes Aston special. Why bother buying an Aston when you can buy an AMG?