The DB12 will be far from Aston Martin’s final combustion car
Company chairman Lawrence Stroll says Aston customers want “sounds and smells” from their sports cars
There will “always be demand” for combustion-engined cars, according to Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll, who has pledged to keep selling them for as long as he is legally allowed to.
Aston Martin recently pushed back its plans to launch its first electric car in 2025 to 2027 and has increased investments in plug-in hybrid technology accordingly.
Stroll expects plug-in hybrids to be far more than a ‘bridging’ technology and that they will remain on sale well into the middle of the 2030s and beyond. He added that demand for electric cars is particularly weak in the luxury segments.
“We planned to launch at the end of 2025 and were ready to do so, but it seems there is a lot more hype in EVs, politically driven or whatever, than consumer demand, particularly at an Aston Martin price point,” he told Autocar.
Stroll said that customers have told dealers that they said they want “sounds and smells” and favour ICE technology for their Astons.
Aston Martin has developed a bespoke EV architecture and plans to launch four electric cars on it, including a GT, SUV, crossover and ‘mid-engined’ supercar, but they won’t come before 2027. Design work on these cars is complete.
The company’s PHEV technology will be based around V8s, as customers aren’t keen on V6s, said Stroll.
The engines will still be sourced from Mercedes-AMG throughout the PHEV era, and the new Aston Martin V12 that powers the DBS replacement is able to be hybridised, too.
The PHEVs will be based on Aston Martin’s existing architectures and will likely be introduced into existing model lines.
When it comes to EVs, Stroll expects SUVs to become fully electric in the luxury segments before sports cars.
