Aston Martin will rapidly expand its hybrid line-up and increase the number of model variants it offers in the coming years, according to new boss Adrian Hallmark – and it will launch its first electric vehicle before the end of this decade.
Former Bentley boss Hallmark took over as CEO of the sports car firm in September last year and has been working on a revised strategy for the coming decade.
Hallmark said he had been tempted into joining Aston because it was “an amazing brand” with “great potential, great shareholders and investment for the future, and a product portfolio we have never had before and couldn’t have dreamed of”.
The dramatic growth in the number of luxury car buyers in recent years has expanded Aston’s market potential, he said, and the key to its future success is that “the plan has got to be boring and stable. You can create the excitement around you, but you don’t create excitement by ripping the plan up every five minutes.”
The challenge of Aston
Hallmark had been in his previous role at Bentley since 2018, and said he “loved” working for the company. But he added: “This opportunity came alone, and the chance to be the first person in 112 years to make it sustainably profitable, when I believe there is a way to do so, was irresistible.”
Speaking to a select group of reporters, including Autocar, Hallmark said he is confident he can achieve that target “because we’ve got the playbook, not just from Bentley but all the luxury players that are out there.
“In the last 10 to 15 years, the market has totally changed, and so have the prospects for luxury car markers. If you go back 10 or 20 years, the number of people that would buy products in our price bracket was a fraction of that it is today. Both the number and average wealth of luxury buyers has increased fourfold, so the market for luxury has exponentially increased – and the opportunities for companies like Aston Martin have matched that.”
Hallmark said he was also attracted to Aston by the investment made in the firm since it was taken over by a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll four years ago. He added: “There’s no way in my old world, with any of the brands I’ve worked directly or indirectly for in the last 25 years, [they] would have tried a product offensive like Aston did over the last 18 months [with the launch of the DB12, Vantage, Vanquish, Valkyrie, Valhalla and several specials].
"It almost worked, but not every car was perfect day one, and there's been delays, but the ambition and the spend is all genuine. It's not any difficulties we've had, and not because of lack of money. This is a genuine endeavour and the commitment to make a high-potential company a high-performance one is there.”
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The EV in the render at the top of the page looks fantastic. I love the small wheels/fat tyres! If Aston produce something looking like that, we will continue to worry about all the usual boring commercial stuff but not the styling...I like his views on limiting volume. Very sensible.I am so naive: had no idea that on average a new Aston is only owned by its first buyer for two years. Different world, as it always has been. I guess it makes sense: if I ever bought a new Aston, I would own it for a maximum of two years as it would almost bankrupt me by then.