Aston Martin to build electric sports car and SUV in UK from 2025
DBX factory in St Athan will produce a fully electric SUV
Chairman tells Financial Times that first EVs may use Mercedes-AMG powertrains but won't be built in Germany
Aston Martin will build an electric SUV and an electric sports car at its UK production facilities from 2025, according to the Financial Times.
Speaking to the newspaper at the company's Gaydon headquarters, chairman Lawrence Stroll confirmed: "The SUV will be built in Wales and the sports cars will be built here," rather than by 20% stakeholder Mercedes-Benz in Germany.
However, the duo could still use batteries and motors supplied by the German firm, which already has a pair of electric series-production cars on sale, while Aston Martin has yet to market a bespoke EV drivetrain.
Stroll told the FT: "We are way ahead of our rivals, and all because of our partnership with Mercedes."
His comments follow Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers' recent claim that the firm can obtain electric, hybrid and combustion powertrain components from Mercedes at "a reasonable cost situation".
The brand's first electrified production vehicle will be a hybrid version of the new DBX SUV, due later this year, which can be expected to use a plug-in hybrid version of its 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8, in line with upcoming PHEV versions of Mercedes-AMG's GT 4dr Coupé and S-Class performance saloons.
Aston Martin's mid-engined Valhalla supercar will also use hybrid technology but is now highly likely to forego the bespoke electrified V6 used by the 2019 concept in favour of an AMG-supplied unit.
A reworked version of the Ferrari SF90 Stradale rival will be shown in the coming months ahead of a market launch in 2023. Some customers, Aston Martin has confirmed, have already placed orders.
Little is known of the electric models mentioned by Stroll, although he did confirm that the sports car will be a "front-engine version of a DB11/Vantage" and will be sold alongside "an SUV higher four-wheel-drive one".
The designs haven't yet been finalised, he told the FT, and there remain question marks over whether electric Aston Martin models will use the 70-year-old DB name prefix.
Giving clues as to how electric Aston Martins will be differentiated from the competition (and potentially their mechanically related Mercedes siblings), Stroll told the FT that they will have "our beautiful body, our suspension, our vehicle dynamics [and] our bespoke interiors”.
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