Development has formally begun on two all-new mid-engined Aston Martin supercars, with the Vanquish and Valhalla becoming live engineering projects, company boss Tobias Moers has confirmed to Autocar.
In his first interview since becoming CEO in August last year, the former Mercedes-AMG chief outlined his Project Horizon vision for the British brand.
This includes “more than 10 cars” before the end of 2023, the cancellation of some of the previous management’s projects – including a bespoke new V6 engine and relaunching Lagonda as a super-luxury EV brand – and a push towards improving the quality and dynamic performance of Aston models, which is already yielding results.
The Ferrari F8 Tributo-rivalling Vanquish and more potent Valhalla are the flagship projects of this new era for Aston. Both were first seen as concept cars in 2019 and were planned to use the new V6. With this project now cancelled, the supercars will instead use hybrid drivetrains sourced from AMG as part of an expanded technical partnership between Aston and Mercedes’ performance arm.
“Both will now look different but cool still and better,” said Moers of the Vanquish and Valhalla. Regarding the V6, he said: “I found a concept engine that wasn’t Euro 7- capable. It would have taken another huge investment that was really too big to bring to life.”
He continued: “We shouldn’t put money into that. We should instead put money into electrification, batteries and the expansion of our portfolio. The intention is to be a self-sustaining company, although always with a partnership.”
Such a goal is “all possible” to be achieved by 2024 or 2025, according to Moers.
He said that the expansion will start with the launch of the Valkyrie hypercar in the second half of this year in road and track forms, before a third variant – likely to be a convertible – follows in 2022.
With a V12 engine, active aerodynamics and active suspension, the Valkyrie is set to break many records for a road car, achieving Formula 1 levels of performance. It has been developed with Red Bull, which Moers said is “really good” to work with, even after the two severed their F1 tie-up at the end of last year when Aston owner Lawrence Stroll turned his Racing Point team into a Gaydon works entry.
Beyond that, the Aston DBX SUV is set to spawn a second variant in September, understood to be a straight-six-powered mild-hybrid version to serve as the entry-level model.
Another variant will join it in April 2022, targeted at “one player from Italy that has the market too comfortable at the moment” – understood to be a high-powered V8 version to take on the Lamborghini Urus.
Moers said there will also be “a broader line-up for the Vantage and DB11” – something that has already begun with the new Vantage F1 Edition, a significantly more powerful and focused model that can lap the Nürburgring 13 seconds faster than the standard Porsche 911 rival.
