Aston Martin's Best Bet for Survival? Build Some SUVs - Wired
Building automobiles to meet regulatory and mass-market demand has become so expensive, carmakers either become huge in order to properly fund the process, or they die. Aston Martin, too small to get by on the old ways, is at that fork in the road. And unlike most other small brands, it isn’t part of a larger manufacturer. Like Rolls-Royce, Astons sell on exclusivity: They are costly and uncommon, and they ooze class. Unlike Rollers, however, Astons aren’t the most obviously expensive or appealing thing on the market, so there’s no obvious reason for new-money twits and rock stars to buy one. You only buy one if you—for lack of a better term—get it. The cheapest Aston Martin, for example, is the V8 Vantage. It costs $123,695. That money gets you a heartbreakingly beautiful shape and a quietly classy interior, but you may lose a few stoplight drags to a guy in a new Porsche 911. For $123,695, you could have bought a new 911. The difference is in the... Pick up a new Rolls Ghost or a 911, you could be landed gentry or any old gauche jerk with money. Buy an Aston, you probably have taste. Aston moved just 4,000 sports cars and sedans worldwide in 2014. For perspective, Ferrari (no giant) sells 7,000 of its hyper-focused exotics annually and has long voluntarily capped sales. Source: www.wired.com
