Like most mainstream automakers, storied sports car manufacturers like Ferrari and Maserati have to conform to a new a landscape that praises efficiency and is also prepared for electrification. But while the Prancing Horse and the Trident can make do with selling sleek, low-slung, expensive sports cars with small, but powerful turbocharged V6 engines, it just doesn’t cut it for British marque Aston Martin. (AMGDF)
The brand preferred by James Bond likes to do things different. In a recent interview, one of its key executives defended why it is choosing to stick with big, brash V8 and V12 engines for the near future.
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An Aston Martin DBX car leans on the steps in front of the century-old historic building Zha Mansion in Shanghai, China, May 10, 2024.
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In an interview with British automotive blog Car Throttle, Aston Martin Product and Marketing Strategy head Alex Long said that supercar buyers are not into buying these type of cars strictly for its performance capabilities or top speed figures, rather seeking an “emotional connection” with their cars through things they can feel, hear and touch.
“[Cars powered by] V8s have a true emotional connection as do V12s […] in a way that perhaps V6 [cars] doesn’t yet,” Long told Car Throttle. “It’s not just about going as fast as I can. I do want some emotion on the way, I want some real sound and rumble.”
Additionally, Long alludes to the idea that a “small” engine like a V6 essentially “cheapens” the prospect of a “premium” car like an Aston Martin.
“I want to know and think and say it’s a V8 or a V12 because V8s [and] V12s have generally been reserved for very special and interesting products whereas V6s very much aren’t in the premium segment.”
Long noted that customer demand for V8s have dramatically increased after the Covid-19 pandemic, which he attributes to the driving patterns of Aston Martin buyers. He notes that these buyers often have more than one car in their garage, reserving the Aston for weekends or special occasions that “don’t cut the mileages;” times where hearing a big, grumbling V8 engine would feel refreshing.
“There are very many Aston customers who will also own an electric car in the household, but they’ll want still sound, noise, vibration and so on from a supercar that’s a V8,” Long noted.
However, keeping those big V8 and V12 motors in these cars are technological wonders themselves, as these motors have evolved to incorporate technologies like turbocharging in order to comply with increasingly strict emissions regulations. But, as engine technology evolves and its parts get even more complex, the big motors inside Aston Martins produce more power than ever before.
“At a time when we’re going electric in the industry, we are at a phenomenal point in the sophistication of the combustion engine… nearly 200 horsepower per liter [from] these fantastic engines.”
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Lawrence Stroll of Canada and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team arrives at the track during the Sprint Shootout/Sprint ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on Oct. 21, 2023 in Austin, United States.
Song Haiyuan/MB Media/Getty Images
Long’s comments follow similar remarks from an April 2024 Autocar interview with Aston Martin Chairman Lawrence Stroll, where he declared that the brand will be selling combustion-powered cars well into the 2030s. He pledged that there “will always be demand” for them, and will sell them for as long as he is legally allowed to do so.
“For as long as we’re allowed to make ICE cars, we’ll make them. I think there will always be demand, even if it’s small.”
In the same interview, he noted that Aston Martin’s customers have told dealers that they prefer internal-combustion technology, and want the “sound and smells” out of Aston’s sports cars.
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC, trading on OTC markets as (AMGDF) has closed at $1.85 on May 24.
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