Not since Pussy Galore flew James Bond to Fort Knox has Aston Martin had the slightest connection to the American south. This random film trivia is brought to you by the U.K.'s wonderfully dry Financial Times, which claims Aston is looking at "several states in the southern part of the U.S." to build its all-electric DBX crossover. But frankly, a British exotic-sports-car maker building a spiffy new factory in the South to crank out electric 4x4s sounds about as logical as the average plot twist in a Bond flick.
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Odd as it may seem, however, an Aston EV is all but required by modern emission laws, and we have to admit that even all jacked up, the DBX is pretty. According to the FT, Aston is also looking at several sites in the U.K. including a former Jaguar plant in Coventry. A U.S. spokesperson told us Aston is pursuing "lots of options" for a new factory but that there is "absolutely no final decision." Aston's Gaydon plant isn't maxed out just yet, but there's no room for the DBX in the higher volumes the company hopes to reach.
-But why is Aston even toying with a new facility when it could contract with Magna Steyr, which had built the Rapide? Aston barely sells 800 cars a year here, and recently begged federal regulators to waive airbag requirements because it couldn't afford them. Even with its Kuwaiti-Italian investors committing hundreds of millions to new product, Aston is not making money either. There's a long record of annual losses and $641 million in borrowings due in 2018.
-While Tesla claims to have 20,000 pre-orders for its Model X, is the world ready for two electric luxury SUVs, one of which comes from a company with no reputation for EVs? Hell, why not partner with Tesla and have them build the DBX in California? After all, Tesla's Fremont, California, facility (the former Toy0ta-GM NUMMI plant) is so huge and the plant so underutilized that more than half of it is sitting dark.
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- Aston Martin DBX Concept: A Gorgeous, Lifted, AWD Electric Sports Car -
- "Rapide" Indeed: Aston Martin Developing Electric Rapide—with 1000 Horsepower? -
- Sales of Huge-Dollar Luxury Cars Are Through the Roof—and Still Growing -
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CEO Andy Palmer wants Aston to regain the 2007 peak when it sold more than 7000 cars—last year, Aston did about 4000—and intends to grow and modernize the entire lineup. Still, an American Aston Martin plant sounds about as believable as the deadly gold paint in 1964's Goldfinger. We'd sooner thought we'd see AMC Matadors that fly.
-from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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