Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2021-02-08)

The $180,000DBXis

AstonMartin’sfirstSUV

62

In someways,thoseintendingtobuythe$180,000Aston

MartinDBXSUVaremorefortunatethanthosewhopaidthe

$682,000depositrequiredforits$3millionValkyrie.

Forone,DBXownershavealreadystartedreceivingtheir

vehicles,farsoonerthanfolkswhosignedupfortheValkyrie.

AstonMartinhasyettodeliverevenoneofthesupercars,

whichit introducedin2017,thoughit saysshipmentsmay

startlaterthisyear.Thereareotherthingstoloveaboutthe

DBXaswell:distinctiveexteriorstylingthattakescuesfrom

the elegantVantage;qualityinteriormaterialsandtechnolo-

giesonparwithAudi,BMW,andPorsche;andthemanufac-

turer’spromisethatotherpowerfulvariantsarestilltocome.

Theycan’tarrivesoonenough.TheGaydon,England-based COURTESY

ASTON

MARTIN

CRITIC BloombergPursuits February 8, 2021

manufacturer is forging the most delicate period of its 106-year

history right now, facing steep declines in sales and dwindling

cash flow as its new majority owner, Lawrence Stroll, tries to

fashion it into a British version of Ferrari NV, complete with

a Formula One team.

The company has placed its future stability on the broad

shoulders of the DBX, its first SUV. Aston is one of the last heri-

tage luxury brands to release one. Last year, pickup trucks and

SUVs accounted for almost 80% of all vehicle sales in North

America; that number is expected to rise in 2021 and beyond.

By 2023, Stroll says, Aston will be selling 14,000 vehicles

a year, double its output from 2019. At least half of those

sales, presumably, will be DBXs, designed to satisfy consumer

Aston Martin, one of the last of the old-school luxury brands to release

an SUV, can turn its fortunes around with the DBX

By Hannah Elliott

The Road Map Out of Limbo