Aston Martin Scales Back Electric Car Plans

Five months after taking over the top job at Aston Martin, CEO Adrian Hallmark spoke to Motor Authority and other media outlets about where he intends to take this British automaker and how he plans to defy more than 100 years of tradition. He gave an update on how he hopes to turn a profit.

Aston has just updated most of its lineup, and the plan is to build on what is already here by offering more model variants, special editions like the Valiant, and a wider range of options, which is standard procedure for most of Aston's competitors is to build on the existing model. And Aston will remain primarily a sports car manufacturer, with an F1 team whose Adrian Newey-designed car will soon be available.

While there is still room to develop entirely new models, including Aston's first EV, the electrification program is being scaled back as Aston explores new segments outside of those in which it already competes.

This is how.

“There is no question that electrification will be the solution at some point in the future,” Hallmark said, but he sees little enthusiasm for it now. [Hallmark said, “Two years ago, it was like we were on a straight line toward a set deadline, and within a five-year time frame. In the last two years, that has melted away like the polar ice caps.”

The first Aston Martin electric car “will appear within the next five years,” Hallmark said, but it will be the only one launched in that time. Additional electric vehicle models will appear between 2030 and 2035, “maybe a little later,” CEO Hallmark said.

The CEO expects pure combustion engines and plug-in hybrid powertrains to still account for 85% of Aston's sales in 2030, and then as more models are introduced (Hallmark declined to give specific numbers), the share of EVs will increase The company expects the share of EVs to increase as more models come on the market. As a result, Hallmark believes it will be able to reduce the “gamble” of electrifying a brand known primarily for its distinctive internal combustion engines.

Its first EV will benefit from a technology partnership with Lucid announced for 2023. Aston will use the U.S. automaker's battery, drive unit, and powertrain control unit, which will represent Lucid's next-generation technology, Hallmark said.

Aston will also continue to source engines from Mercedes-Benz, but will go it alone for the plug-in hybrid system, Hallmark said, because it needs more control over packaging and battery size. These batteries will come from a different supplier than Aston's EV batteries, Hallmark added. [The plug-in hybrid powertrains will help keep Aston's current V-8 and V-12 engines running as long as possible in the face of European regulations aimed at ending sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035, Hallmark said.

“We're going to keep the 12-cylinder running as long as possible, even as a niche model,” he confirmed, noting that as regulations tighten, it will take the form of “specific exceptions for very low-volume production vehicles” that allow for sales of a few hundred units per year. Due to stricter emission regulations, mass production of V-12 cars will likely end by 2030, while V-8 cars will continue through 2035, Hallmark said.

Other low-volume luxury automakers favor synthetic fuels, also known as e-fuels, as a way to keep internal combustion engine vehicles running. Hallmark sees these fuels as “valuable and part of the solution,”

but said they will never be produced in large enough quantities to serve as a comparable alternative to fossil fuels.

They may represent a much larger market than Aston's two-door models, but Hallmark said “there are no plans for two SUVs.”

Aston will instead continue to refine the DBX utility vehicle, which has existed since the 2021 model year and is undergoing a refresh for 2025, before redesigning it. That redesign, Hallmark noted, will likely be closer to the philosophy of the current DBX, rather than venturing into more rugged territory.

Since SUVs remain a big seller, Aston may eventually have to add a second vehicle. However, Hallmark said it will not create a Mercedes G-Class rival, as suggested in the 2024 report. Downsizing is also not being considered.

Hallmark confirmed that the revival of the Lagonda name, which surfaced at the end of the past decade and was reportedly terminated by current Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll, will definitely not happen.

“It's hard enough to manage one brand,” he said, adding that while the name could be revived at some point for niche applications, it is not currently planned as an independent brand. Nor is Aston considering a new model that would fit the Lagonda mold. [Aston's niche is sports cars and performance,” he said. Aston's niche is sports cars and performance,” he said. And he believes that the potential sales of the new sedan are not enough to justify the development costs.

Hallmark pointed to the “lack of post-launch follow-up” for new models as one area where Aston could improve. Each new generation of the Porsche 911 has a number of variations to keep customers coming back, and Hallmark, who previously worked for Porsche, hopes to follow that example.

For the DBX, Hallmark said there is room for a less fatiguing variant that works better as an everyday driver, but “not to make the Vantage more luxurious” (referring to Aston's newly refreshed Vantage coupe and Vantage Roadster), adding that the Vanquish's 825-horsepower V-12 “demands that we do more with it.”

“We have some really good ideas,” Hallmark said, “like bringing existing racing cars back to public roads. And at least some of these sporty variants will feature manual transmissions, he said.

Hallmark said that the optional add-ons are “a goldmine” and that thickening its catalog will make Aston “a regular like any other luxury brand.”

Some of these options will likely include carbon fiber wheels, titanium exhaust systems, and more elaborate audio systems, and will also lean more heavily on Aston Martin's Q personalization department, Hallmark Hallmark said. Hallmark also said that the company plans to further leverage Aston Martin's Q personalization division.

Personalization is also a priority for other luxury brands, with Mercedes recently expanding its Manufaktur program and Bentley and Rolls-Royce increasing their bespoke numbers. In short, Aston is bucking the trend.