Aston Martin will continue to make cars powered solely by an internal combustion engine beyond 2030.
Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll, speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit, said there were “always going to be enthusiasts” who would want cars powered solely by internal combustion engines (ICE), and Aston would cater for them.
“By 2030, 5% of business will still always be ICE,” he said. “I never see it going down to zero.” When asked if that would still be the case further in the future, from 2050/60, Stroll said: “That is beyond the horizon I’m looking at.”
However, the UK government will ban the sale of such cars from 2030, meaning at present that these Astons would not be able to be sold in their home market, at least for road driving.
As for its future engine strategy, Aston will be getting bespoke engines from Mercedes-AMG, rather than the current off-the-shelf 4.0-litre V8 units, as part of a wider tie-up between the two brands.
“Our current AMG engines are just that - AMG engines in an Aston,” said Stroll. “With this new deal, we will have bespoke AMG engines for Aston with different outputs, torque characteristics etc. They’ll still be AMG components but bespoke manufactured in Germany.”
Aston currently uses its own V12 engines made in the UK and has its own turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 - codenamed TM01 - in the works. Announced earlier this year, it will be used in the firm's still-planned mid-engined Vanquish supercar.
However, it’s unclear how these two engines fit into the wider AMG deal, particularly around the plug-in hybrid technology that Aston will be getting from its German shareholder as part of the technical tie-up. As such, their long-term futures are unknown.
Aston will also be getting its electric car drive systems from AMG as part of the deal. Stroll said the first electric cars will arrive no later than 2026 and will carry the Aston badge rather than the Lagonda name that had been planned by the previous management.
“It should be Aston so we changed it back to Aston,” he said. “When we go electric, brand will become critical,” he added, in reference to the fewer differentiators between electric cars in drive and performance compared to internal-combustion-engined ones. “Brand is key,” said Stroll on electric cars. “Aston is known historically for making the most beautiful cars.”
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