Loosely based off the DBX Concept of 2015, final design has been approved
You may have noticed an industry-wide swing happening over the past few years, with traditionally anti-SUV marques such as Porsche, Maserati, and Bentley releasing their own high-riders with unprecedented commercial success.
Even Rolls-royce has entered the ring with their Cullinan, and the stone-faced marque from Maranello – whose former CEO famously told the media “you have to shoot me first” regarding the prospect of a Ferrari soft-roader – has decided to throw their hat in.
So in 2015 when the curtains dropped on Aston Martin’s high-riding DBX concept, a swoopy two-door luxury SUV, some might have labelled it a late-arrival to an already swinging party.
Years later, the iconic British sporting brand seems to be edging closer to its SUV offering; as we can report that the final design has been signed off, with the focus now on developing prototypes, with our first look at the car possibly coming at the end of this year.
Autoexpress reports that Aston’s all-new SUV is likely to be called the Verakai, and predictably in its final production form has morphed into a more conventional five-door SUV.
Aston Martin Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer Simon Sproule said: “…the design freeze has happened… we know what it looks like and now we’re working on building the first prototypes”.
Illustration by Alex Affat, for Unique Cars magazine
Long-rumoured to utilise a futuristic all-electric powertrain, Sproule continued “The production DBX will be gasoline engined” initially upon release.
“If you look at our EV strategy, by mid next decade every car we make will be wither hybrid or electric, and inevitably there will be some form of hybridisation of DBX to come. But our electrification plan is Rapide next year, then Lagonda from 2021”.
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Aston Martin reportedly intends to position Lagonda as “the world’s first zero emission luxury brand”.
A Lagonda SUV has already been teased earlier this year and is penned in to join the lineup come 2021.
The Aston Martin Verakai will likely see first deliveries at the end of 2019 or early 2020.
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