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Aston Martin makes the DB11 and its configurator more powerful

Aston Martin sold 4,150 cars last year, but the luxury automaker said its configurator served up more than two million specification sessions. Going with the overwhelming numbers, for 2022 Aston Martin has focused on "the customer journey" for imminent and aspirational buyers by rolling out a new and highly featured configurator. At last, the firm greets potential customers and the merely curious with the kind of luxury one expects of the brand. This is especially important for a company working through its Project Horizon turnaround, and also because, as the official Safety Car and Medical Car sponsor of Formula 1, traffic to Aston Martin's web site spikes every time its Vantage and DBX are called out on track during races.   The configurator's been built using Epic Game's Unreal engine, a digital creation tool building portals for everything from real estate to fashion, supplemented by Nvidia GTX graphics. In the present Phase One, visitors can place their chosen model in studio or outdoor environments, with daytime or nighttime lighting, and get high-res, zoomed-in beauty shots of their their vehicle details. Yet while Aston Martin poured new features into the configurator, it has reorganized and simplified the site's use. For instance, individual elements such as exterior paint are broken into six color groupings like Blacks & Greys and Bronzes & Oranges, providing users a glimpse at the range of hues on offer without overwhelming them into analysis paralysis. The surfeit of choice carries on inside, naturally — there are eleven carpet colors on offer and 12 shades of headliner. The simplifying rationalization carries on in the cabin, too, with three themes available to establish a quick baseline for personalization. The starter theme is called Create, showcasing ornate stitching on the seat bolsters, perforated, patterned seatbacks, door cards, and arm rest. Next up is Accelerate, which "will appeal to customers who wish for a more focused interior." This one puts Alcantara all over, notably on the entire seat faces and bolsters, with leather trimming the seat sides and headrests. Create and Accelerate can be had in ten colors in monotone and duotone arrangements. Inspire, the topmost theme and "the epitome of luxury," can be had in 38 colors and in monotone, duotone, and light duotone.

Aston Martin mulls Formula E, but one thing must change

It may be the off-season, but Formula E is on fire. It seems that everybody is scrambling for a spot on the grid. Jaguar relaunched its racing program in the electric series, and is doubling down with a support series. Audi took a more prominent position for next season. BMW's in. Mercedes-Benz will be joining, too. Porsche has ditched WEC for Formula E. FCA is interested. So it shouldn't be too surprising, then, that Aston Martin is now considering a Formula E entry, as Automotive News Europe reports. Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer told the outlet that the series could support the company's development of electric vehicles, such as the upcoming RapidE, pictured above. "We don't have an electric car yet, but we will have in 2019," he said. "You can imagine the two coming together. I love Formula E." Palmer said, though, that Aston Martin wouldn't want to join the series until it does away with car swaps mid-race. "For me, the use of the two cars reinforces the range anxiety," Palmer told Automotive News Europe. "That will change, and then it starts to get interesting." In the past, other automakers have expressed similar concerns about car swaps. The upcoming season will be the last to use the practice, and Formula E will move toward using a single car per driver for each race beginning in the 2018-19 season. Aston Martin scaled back plans for the RapidE electric car after its partner LeEco pulled out of the project. Instead, Aston Martin will rely on the engineering expertise of Williams, and limit the RapidE to 155 units, priced at around $255,000. Related Video: Featured Gallery Aston Martin RapidE concept View 12 Photos News Source: Automotive News EuropeImage Credit: Aston Martin Green Motorsports Aston Martin Electric Racing Vehicles Formula E aston martin rapide fia formula e championship

Aston Martin losses shrink, still amount to nearly $10k per car

Aston Martin's current lineup may be the best it's ever been, but that doesn't mean the automaker is making money off its Vantage, DB9, Vanquish and Rapide dream machines. In fact, the company lost $41 million in 2013, but that pretax figure is actually a third lower than in 2012. Revenue was up a promising 12.6 percent, according to Reuters. The Kuwaiti-owned British manufacturer blames its losses on the still troubled global economy, acknowledging that it's seen a small recovery in the ultra-high-end segment of the market. Global sales were up from 3,800 to 4,200 in 2013. To put it all in perspective, $41 million in losses on 4,200 units works out to around $9,700 lost per vehicle sold. That's no way to run a railroad. While the company's CFO, Hanno Kirner, told Reuters the company is hoping for a big bounceback by 2016, Aston's fortunes in the United States remain uncertain due to a new federal side-impact standards. The company has filed for exemption, although the jury is still out on the success of that petition.