Aston Martin’s future hinges on the Mercedes-Benz partnership
By Andrew, 13 Oct, 2011. 0 Comments
2012 Aston Martin Virage Coupe
As you may know already, Aston Martin and Daimler have been discussing a product development tie-up in order to help the British manufacturer to redesign its coupes and give a platform for a large sedan but also for an SUV. Back in August, German newspaper Handelsblatt said that Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez is interested in building Maybachs for Daimler but also a rebadged version of the sedan for Aston but according to Auto Motor und Sport it appears that these talks have collapsed.
For those who don’t know, Aston Martin was planning to use the Mercedes-Benz GL platform for its Lagonda SUV, but now it appears that the project is on hold. Moreover, Aston Martin was also planning to build a larger sedan due to the complaints about the Rapide's small back seat. A rebadged version of the Maybach wearing the Lagonda badge seemed to be the perfect car but unfortunately this vehicle is also dead, says Autonews.
Things are not looking too good for Aston Martin because the future of the Vantage is also in danger, because the new version of this car may end up to a re-engineering of the platform, powertrain and sheet metal. The DB9 future also depends on the Mercedes-Benz partnership because this model uses the same platform as the Vantage and it may take a while until Aston Martin will introduce carbon fiber spaceframes.
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