Aston Martin DBX faces tough competition from newer rivals with more advanced cockpits
Top-selling SUV will receive cockpit overhaul based on new DB12, with bespoke Aston infotainment
Aston Martin will update the interior of its top-selling DBX SUV to install the new infotainment system of the DB12 sports car “in the near future”, company chairman Lawrence Stroll said.
The DBX has an outdated infotainment system sourced from Mercedes-Benz that uses a trackpad to control the screen instead of a touchscreen, a set-up that has been criticised by some users for lagging the competition. The DB12 features a new touchscreen with software designed by Aston Martin (pictured below).
Stroll confirmed the updates to the DBX in the company’s third-quarter earnings call in response to a question from JPMorgan analyst Akshat Kacker, who referenced the new DB12 interface by saying that “a lot of customers might be waiting for an update on the SUV as well”.
“On DBX, the new infotainment, the new interiors, will continue along the line of DB12 and will be in the marketplace in the near future,” Stroll said in reply to the question, without being more specific on timings. Autocar has asked Aston Martin for a more precise indication of the new DBX’s launch date.
Aston Martin has lost sales in its key market of China this year, where demand for the DBX has been strong. The market is much more focused on high-tech interiors, putting the DBX on the back foot against more up-to-date competition such as the BMW XM.
However, Aston Martin said DBX sales overall are up 23% in the first nine months, driven by the hot DBX 707, which accounted for 70% of the SUV’s total sales this year. DBX sales made up just over half of all Aston’s sales so far this year, highlighting the importance of the model.
Problems around integration of the new software platform on the DB12 had held back deliveries of the new sports car, CEO Amedeo Felisa said on the call. “We had some issues on software, but I think everything now is fixed,” he said.
The DBX started production in 2020 in Aston Martin’s St Athan plant in South Wales and was redesigned to create the 707 version, named for its power figure in PS (697bhp), in 2022. However, the dashboard has remained largely unchanged.
