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Aston Martin sues dealer over $3.5 million Valkyrie supercar

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings said it’s suing a company affiliated with one of its dealers in Switzerland, alleging that it withheld customer deposits collected for the $3.5 million Valkyrie supercar. The automaker accused Nebula Project AG of failing to pass some deposits taken from customers along to Aston Martin and said it has terminated an unconventional commercial arrangement its previous management team entered in 2016. Under the now-dissolved deal, Nebula had agreed to fund development of the Valkyrie and other mid-engine cars in exchange for royalty payments. As a result of terminating the agreement with Nebula, Aston Martin is no longer liable for any potential royalty payments, which could have been “significant” over time, the carmaker said in a statement Tuesday. The company also cut off its dealer arrangements with AF Cars AG, the company that operates Aston Martin St. Gallen in Switzerland, whose board members manage Nebula. A spokeswoman for the cantonal prosecutorÂ’s office in St. Gallen said they are expecting a lawsuit to be filed but hadnÂ’t received it as of noon Tuesday. A spokesman for Aston Martin St. Gallen was not immediately available to comment, according to a receptionist. The canton of St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland is home to just 510,000 people but generates gross domestic product of almost 39 billion Swiss francs ($42 billion), making it a natural fit for wealthy fans of supercars. The Valkyrie, which Aston Martin expects to start shipping in the second half of the year, is intended to compete with mid-engine models made by the likes of Ferrari and McLaren. While Aston Martin believes the net impact of its actions against Nebula will be positive over time, itÂ’s expected to reduce cash flow and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by as much as 15 million pounds this year. The automakerÂ’s shares traded down 1.9% as of 11:50 a.m. in London, paring an earlier decline of as much as 4.9%. Valkyrie customers will still receive their cars as scheduled, Aston Martin said, despite the company not having received all the deposited funds. The company said it will take deposits for special vehicles directly from customers going forward instead of through dealers. Aston Martin racked up significant losses after going public in 2018 and has spent the last year restructuring itself after a rescue by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, who took over as chairman.

5 things to know about the Aston Martin Lagonda SUV

Though Aston Martin unveiled its Lagonda Sedan first, we were told that the British ultra-luxury electric/autonomous spinoff brand's first production car would be an SUV. Today, at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, they took the wraps off an All-Terrain Concept: a battery-powered, autonomous-ready, all-wheel-drive crossover intended to presage that vehicle. We walked around, and sat in, the vehicle with Aston Martin Lagonda chief creative officer and design studio head, Marek Reichman, who provided us with all sorts of interesting insights about this new vehicle, and brand, which is expected to bow in 2021. Here are five things we learned. It Has a Hood for a Reason "The sedan was the most extreme version of this new design language, derived from the proportion of not having to have an engine, exhaust, driveline, or gas tank. This new concept has more of a hood, but by no means a typical SUV profile -- the windshield starts above the front axle line. This is because in an all-terrain vehicle, in all-terrain mode when you're going through snow or rough road, you want to feel protected. You want to see something in front of you." It's Huge Inside "Because of the powertrain, it has more space inside than a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, which is fully a meter [more than 3 feet] longer. Luxury now is about time and space. I can't give you time, but I can give you space." It Has Radical Materials Inside "Just like we are unconstrained by tradition on the exterior, we are similarly unconstrained in the interior. We've used materials that define modern, contemporary luxury. Not like the traditional values of an English country manor. So on the seats we have cashmere. On the key we have Swarovski crystals. On the headliner we have alpaca. And on the door cards, we have silks. This car will be built in Wales and many of these materials come from Wales." It's Luxurious and Utilitarian "Design is about solving a problem. In this case, it's about solving for a customer who needs more practical applications. So we've made the interior flexible. The front seats rotate for a future autonomous mode. But you can get fixed seats up front and move the rear sheets forward to allow room for a third row. Or you can move both rear rows forward and have more room for cargo. It's a redefinition of uses rather than trying to fit something into the box of what an SUV can be." It's Trendy and Anti-Trend "A designer's job is to see if a trend is going to burn out quickly or be long term.

Aston Martin says DBX is an obvious candidate for the AMR treatment

The 2021 Aston Martin DBX made its debut at the Los Angeles auto show with a Mercedes-Benz-sourced V8 engine under the hood. While that's the only engine that will be available at launch, the British company's chief executive confirmed there are several other options on the table. Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer told Road & Track the twin-turbocharged, 5.2-liter V12 found in models such as the DB11 AMR and the DBS Superleggera fits in the DBX's engine bay. On its own, that's not a guarantee that a V12-powered model will arrive; just because there's space to install a 12-cylinder engine doesn't mean it makes sense to drop it in. Palmer didn't confirm or deny that the DBX will gain four additional cylinders, but he stressed that Aston hasn't mined the DBX's full potential yet. "We'll probably do other engine derivatives, we'll do other spec derivatives. As you do with any lifecycle management," he explained without going into more details about what's next. The twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 delivers 542 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque when bolted between the DBX's fenders, which means there's already room for improvement. The same engine makes 603 horses in the GLS 63 and GLE 63 S that Mercedes-AMG unveiled in Los Angeles, and its output checks in at 630 horsepower when it's under the GT 63 S's long hood. Swapping the V8 for a V12 would also bring the DBX's output above 600 horsepower — the DBS Superleggera's 5.2-liter packs a 715-horse punch — but it would put a Lagonda-sized dent in the vehicle's fuel economy. Aston Martin, like its peers, is under intense scrutiny in the emissions department. Time will tell which direction Palmer's team takes the model, but it's safe to bet we'll see a sportier variant. "We're committed to doing an AMR in every one of our range, so that would be an obvious candidate," Palmer told Road & Track. When it arrives, there's a good chance it will face serious competition from the long-rumored Urus Performante that Lamborghini is allegedly working on.