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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 CEO to personally inspect first 1,000 DB11s

The Aston Martin DB11 is going to be a significant vehicle for the British automaker and to ensure that new owners are getting a flawless vehicle, CEO Andy Palmer will be going the extra mile to personally inspect the first 1,000 models. According to a recent tweet by BBC Autos reporter Matthew Phenix, Palmer will be working overtime to give the first set of vehicles an extra dose of love. The CEO will also be placing an inspection badge, which bears his signature, onto every one of the DB11's V12 engines he looks over. Only 1000 Aston Martin DB11 V12's to be made with this particular inspectors plaque! pic.twitter.com/lkmMTJpGE8 — Andy Palmer (@AndyatAston) July 13, 2016 The idea of giving the DB11 more love over the rest of Aston's lineup makes sense as the DB11 is the first all-new vehicle to debut from the automaker since Palmer took over as CEO in 2014. The DB11 is the 10th car in the iconic DB lineage that began with the gorgeous DB1 in 1948. And with the DB line being the most successful model for the automaker, there's a lot riding on the new DB11. This isn't the first time a CEO has gone to extreme lengths to ensure that vehicles are up to snuff as Elon Musk reportedly slept in a sleeping bag on the factory floor for the production of the Tesla Model X. Hopefully Palmer's extra effort will pay off for the DB11. Related Video: Featured Gallery Aston Martin DB11 View 42 Photos News Source: @AndyatAston, @mattphenix Auto News Aston Martin Coupe Luxury Performance aston martin db11

Aston Martin DBX SUV spied up close towing, and we get interior shots

An Aston Martin SUV called the DBX is going to be revealed in the last quarter of 2019, and here's your newest batch of spy photos showing it out testing. There isn't much new to see on the outside, but our spy photographer managed to capture more detailed photos of the interior. Before you get too excited, know the interior is pretty much entirely unfinished. This particular DBX prototype seems to be a fairly early build, as everything on the inside looks cobbled together. If you peer through the rear windows you'll see what looks like some sort of rollcage and massive jugs meant to simulate the weight of passengers. Also, like before, there's a smattering of Mercedes parts in there. We see the Mercedes infotainment display, center console and center stack design, plus Mercedes seat controls. Curiously, those seat controls are on the tunnel separating the driver and passenger. Aston could get away with doing that, but with all the space an SUV offers, it seems somewhat unnecessary to package it thusly. We'll just assume nothing is final at this point, due to the state of confusion currently on display in the Aston's interior. We do have something interesting to look at on the exterior of the DBX, though. It's hauling something, and that something happens to be a Taylor dynamometer, according to the logo on the side. This kind of dyno is used to apply a measured load to the vehicle, in addition to simulating driving up and down slopes. This SUV is rumored to have AMG's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 under the hood, so it could have some heady towing capability. Aston seems intent on making this SUV do SUV things, so a solid tow rating could be in the cards. The wait isn't long at this point for the DBX, but Aston hasn't uncovered anything more than it did last year. With the actual announcement nearing, we hope to see more of the large Aston Martin bruiser soon.