2018-03-16 16:20
Aston Martin used te 2018 Geneva Motor Show to launch its new Lagonda luxury brand, and Auto Express can reveal the first model will be an SUV, rather than the saloon car unveiled at the Swiss expo.
Hidden away at the back of the Lagonda show stand were 40 per cent scale models of an SUV and coupe, and it’s understood that the former will be the first standalone Lagonda model.
Previewed in our exclusive images, the SUV will launch in 2021. The saloon is likely to follow in 2023, by which time solid-state batteries should be available to give both models a realistic electric vehicle range of more than 400 miles. Wireless charging will also be included.
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The Lagonda SUV will share some of its technology with the Aston Martin DBX, which is likely to be named Varekai, being built in Aston’s new St Athan factory in South Wales. President and CEO Andy Palmer refused to confirm whether Lagondas will come out of the same plant, though, saying that other locations were under consideration, too.
Talking exclusively to Auto Express at Lagonda’s launch, Palmer said: “I’ve been a student of the electric [car] industry since it began and nobody has replicated what [Elon] Musk did to create a purely 100 per cent electric car company.
“Just being one car in a range doesn’t make a statement, while saying ‘this brand is electric’ and pinning your hopes and prayers on that technology, I think is a more powerful statement that’s easier for the consumer to understand.
“There’s so much confusion around what is a hybrid electric – even the Government can’t get it right,” Palmer continued. “So we demystify it; if it’s an Aston, it’s probably got a gasoline engine and it’s probably got a V-configuration. It might or might not have a hybrid attached to it. But if it’s a Lagonda, you know what you’re getting: it’s 100 per cent electric.”
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Talking about the Vision Concept, Palmer told us: “It’s a design study, but it was done for Marich Reichmann (AML’s chief creative officer) to fixate on the design elements for Lagonda.
“But it’s practical as it’s used large chunks of the DBX platform, so it’s production feasible except on two points: it assumes a solid-state battery and I’m not sure we’ll have that by 2021. Plus, it has level-four autonomous features,” Palmer added. “I don’t think anyone will have level-four autonomy by 2021. Maybe by the mid-2020s.”
As for how Lagondas would be sold, Palmer said: “In the UK you could do it through a separate dealer network, but around the world Lagonda isn’t as well understood, so I think in the first instance it will be born out of Aston Martin.
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“We’re seeing traction from the Aston Martin brand centres around the world where people don’t feel as though they’re buying a car, so I could see Lagonda centres in big cities.”
And it’s in these big cities where we could see Lagonda partner with other luxury brands. Aston Martin announced relationships with Tag Heuer, Beats headphones and Waldorf Astoria hotels during the Geneva show, while Lagonda models could eventually be used to provide autonomous transport options for well heeled hotel customers.
And although only two Lagonda models have been spoken about so far, it’s quite possible that the coupe, shown as a model in Geneva, could make it three.
What do you think of our exclusive Lagonda SUV images? Let us know below...
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