Aston Martin’s future depends on more than just cost-cutting and special editions. If it wants to secure long-term success, it needs two cars – one obvious, one long overdue.
As Adrian Hallmark takes up his new role as Aston Martin’s CEO, his outlook has been self-assured, promising to be the first boss to guarantee sustained profitability for the historically troubled firm.
Yet reality continues to bite. In the past two weeks, Gaydon has announced another round of job cuts – axing 170 positions. The latest financial report makes grim reading – net debt now stands at £1.16billion, an increase of £348.4 million over 2023’s results, with sales down by 9%. Within that, DBX sales – the company's most profitable model – were down by a concerning 36%.
Clearly, Aston Martin needs another high-margin model to share the burden currently placed on the DBX. The Valhalla is on the way, but that’s a bold foray into a supercar market dominated by Ferrari and McLaren. I’m talking about cars that are Gaydon’s bread and butter. Guaranteed hits.
The solution is twofold. First, an accessible, straight-six-powered sports car to slot in beneath the Vantage, offering a genuine alternative to the 911. Second, an expansion into the high-margin world of ultra-luxury EVs, challenging Rolls-Royce with a modern, coachbuilt Lagonda.
The first is a car Aston Martin could bring to market quickly – I’d call it the DBSix. With the latest V8 Vantage now elevated to Ferrari Roma and 911 Turbo territory, there is a glaring vacuum in the range. Priced where the old Vantage left off, a £125k–£140k, six-cylinder 911 Carrera rival based on the Vantage platform would do wonders for Aston’s struggling wholesales.
The fundamentals are already there. The platform exists. The Mercedes-AMG partnership is in place, and the 443bhp turbocharged straight-six from the E53 is an ideal powertrain – one that’s already used in a Chinese market DBX. With bespoke bodywork to maintain a hierarchy, the DBSix wouldn’t cannibalise Vantage sales. Instead, it would serve as an accessible stepping stone into Aston ownership – much like the BMW M2 or Porsche Boxster do for Munich and Stuttgart.
Better still, it would tap directly into Aston Martin’s heritage – a front-engined, straight-six sports car in the spirit of the DB5 and DB4. The most important factor? Styling. It has to be a looker. Prospective buyers will care as much – if not more – about the statement an Aston makes as they do about how quickly it gets to 60mph. The DBSix doesn’t need to beat the Porsche 911. It just needs to steal a fraction of its sales, but get it right, and Aston Martin wouldn’t be able to make enough of them.
Another obvious seam just waiting to be mined is the revival of the Lagonda name.
Rather than risk alienating long-standing customers by forcing electrification into Aston Martin’s core lineup, Gaydon could position Lagonda as its dedicated BEV division – giving the brand a clear purpose at last. This would allow Aston Martin to preserve its identity as an emotive, combustion-powered sports car manufacturer, while Lagonda moves into ultra-luxury electric vehicles to challenge Rolls-Royce.
Now, with the shift to electrification, there is no better time to bring Lagonda back with a clear, well-executed vision. The Taraf should have been the start of something. It was a great-looking – if unconventional – luxury saloon, proof that Lagonda could still stand apart from the usual high-end suspects. Instead, it became another one-off, a collector’s item rather than the foundation of a revived brand.
But Lagonda’s history offers a blueprint for what it could be. The 1976 Lagonda saloon was bold, technology-led and divisive. Its radical wedge design and futuristic LED instrumentation weren’t just excess for the sake of it – they made a statement about where high-end motoring was heading. A modern Lagonda should do the same, using cutting-edge technology and coachbuilt luxury to create a truly distinctive ultra-luxury BEV. Aston Martin already has another technology partnership in place to exploit – the recently announced tie-in with Lucid.
And in many ways, there’s a fitting symmetry here. W.O. Bentley helped shape Lagonda into a true Rolls-Royce rival in the 1930s. Now, Adrian Hallmark – fresh from leading Bentley – has the opportunity to do the same in the EV era. If anyone understands the demands and clientele of a British luxury marque, it’s the former boss of Crewe.
Of the two cars, the DBSix is a sure thing. The Lagonda revival is the riskier move – both in terms of investment and reputation. Aston’s previous management tested the waters with the All-Terrain Concept in 2019, aiming to rival the Cullinan with a BEV Lagonda SUV. It looked the part, but the timing wasn’t right.
Now however, the world is ready. The best-selling Rolls-Royce in Europe is the Spectre, and the first all-electric Bentley is due next year. Throw in jaGuar’s reinvention, and the ultra-luxury EV market is beginning to take shape. This time, Lagonda has the opportunity to become a major player rather than a mere footnote in history. The UK might not be its biggest market, but that doesn’t matter – this is a car for the streets of Monaco, Miami and Dubai.
Aston Martin has always existed on a permanent precipice, but with debt spiralling faster than ever, putting these two cars into production could be its best chance to step back from the edge – for good.
Can we also have a Rapide based on the Vanquish chassis? Take the fight right to the M5!