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With the ink still moist on the purchase agreement for Aston Martin, there are some interesting developments already. As we've heard ad nauseum previously, David Richards of Prodrive, along with Texas banker John Sinders, and the Kuwaiti Investment Dar and Adeem Investment have taken a 90% stake in the company. Prodrive and Aston will stay separate, but Richards will get a seat on the board of directors, while Ulrich Bez will remain Chief Executive. The Gaydon plant will soldier on and possibly expand to make room for, wait for it, some new models.

The Rapide has been confirmed, with annual production of 1,000-2,000 units a year expected. Before that hits dealers, however, there should be a new, new DBS. "This will be different from the car that appeared in the latest James Bond film, and it won't be a direct replacement for the Vanquish either, because we prefer to carve out a new identity for the car," Bez explained. "However, it will be our flagship product, and it will use our VH platform."

Very interesting news, as we expected a Vanquish-ized DB9 in that slot. But it gets even better. Bez also mentioned in passing a new DBX. Rather than taking this as a mention of a DB9 replacement, his follow-up comment had the Autocar staff on the edge of their seats. "In the long term, we have to look for growth beyond the current range of cars," said Bez. Immediate thoughts of a Cayenne or Range Rover competitor came to mind. Perhaps it was the "X," but with their new association with Prodrive and the continued connection to Ford and PAG, anything is possible. Of course it could still be a new DB9 replacement that simply heads in a slightly different direction, say, by adding AWD, perhaps?

[Source: AutoCar]

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