2015 Aston Martin Vantage Base 2dr Coupe on 2040-cars

Auto blog

UK offers Aston Martin military base to produce DBX in Wales

The British government is doing its best to encourage Aston Martin to build the DBX in the United Kingdom. To that end, Prime Minister David Cameron made a public offer to the automaker Thursday to make use of a military facility in Wales to produce the crossover. The location is St Athan, a Royal Air Force base and Ministry of Defence facility with space left vacant since a planned military academy earmarked for the site was canceled less than five years ago. One of its empty hangars is what Cameron offered to Aston Martin, according to the BBC. The facility is located near the airport in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, a little over two hours from the company's headquarters and principal manufacturing site in Gaydon. If Aston takes the bait, the site would be used to manufacture the DBX that would become the company's first crossover. Rivals Jaguar, Bentley, Maserati, and Lamborghini are all planning to launch their first crossovers, as well. Aston showcased a concept version of the DBX at the Geneva Motor Show this March, but the production version is expected to go a bit more mainstream, ditching the electric powertrain and two-door layout in favor of more conventional propulsion and four-door setup. The company is also said to be considering opening a new facility in the United States, specifically in Alabama near the Mercedes plant there, to handle production of the DBX. Other locations within the UK are also said to be under consideration, but Aston has yet to make a decision – or at least an announcement – on where the crossover might be assembled. When Aston previously branched out with the launch of the Rapide, it contracted Magna Steyr to handle assembly on its behalf in Austria, before moving production back home. The contract manufacturing facility is the same to which the Jaguar Land Rover is expected to entrust assembly of the F-Pace crossover. It's also where the G-Class is built for Mercedes, which in turn similarly hired AM General recently to assume production of the R-Class crossover. Related Video:

Get lost in Evo's sublime 2013 Car of the Year testing

Every year Evo stages its Car of the Year test, bringing the best performance cars in the world to one location for an epic shootout. This year the magazine pitted eight CotY finalists against each other on Route Napoleon in Southern France - Evo claims it's the "best road in the world" - and then proceeded to nitpick the smallest of faults on each car until the winner could be named. You see, this year's lineup of machines was just so good that only one car obviously wasn't CotY material from the get-go. Can you guess which one judging from the list below?
- Aston Martin V12 Vantage S
- Audi R8 V10 Plus

Aston Martin sheds light on its first two electric vehicles

Aston Martin's on-again, off-again electric car rollout is beginning to take shape. Bolstered by stakeholder Daimler, the British carmaker detailed the first two battery-powered models that it plans to bring to the market. Speaking to the Financial Times, company stakeholder Lawrence Stroll confirmed that at least two electric Aston Martin models are on their way after several false starts. One will be a sports car in the vein of the DB11, and the other will be an SUV. Both will be built in the United Kingdom, so they will not roll off a Mercedes-Benz assembly line, but neither's design has been finalized yet. Stroll affirmed that his team hasn't even decided what to call them. As we previously reported, both of these EVs are likely to use at least some technology borrowed from Mercedes-Benz. Daimler will increase its stake in Aston Martin to 20% by 2023, and it's granting the company access to its hybrid and electric powertrains in return. It's a win-win situation: on one hand, Aston Martin receives state-of-the-art turnkey components. On the other hand, Mercedes-Benz is able to leverage the benefits of economies of scale. It's still too early to tell precisely which parts Aston Martin will use to build its first electric cars. It could borrow a platform from Mercedes-Benz, it could use powertrain components (like batteries and motors), or it might sign up for both. "We're looking at all options," explained Stroll. Regardless, the company's much-hyped plans to recycle the decades-old Lagonda name to denote a luxurious sub-brand focused on electric cars have been canned. Tobias Moers, the company's CEO, confirmed that the first electric Aston Martin models will go on sale in 2025 or 2026. In the meantime, the company will launch several hybrids, including a fuel-sipping version of the DBX. Aston Martin needs to go electric, because it will no longer be allowed to sell cars powered by an internal combustion engine in its home country of England after 2030. It's not entirely phasing out its gasoline-powered models, however. Stroll previously stressed he doesn't think the internal combustion engine will ever fully disappear. Related Video: