Aston Martin will relaunch the Lagonda marque, chief exec Ulrich Bez announced today. The famous name plate will be used on a range of upmarket cars, the first of which we’ll see as a concept in 2009 – Lagonda’s centenary year.
What sort of cars will wear the Lagonda badge? Easy. The Mercedes architectures that Aston will soon have access to – see our separate scoop story here – will soon enable the British sports car firm to build upmarket saloons and coupes with plenty of German hardware thanks to the shared parts under discussion.
‘The revival of the Lagonda brand will allow us to develop cars which can have a different character than a sports car, and therefore offer a perfect synergy,’ said Bez. ‘Lagonda will use a unique design language as Aston Martin does. We will take elements of DNA from the past but will be very future orientated as we are with Aston Martin.’
So what can we expect of new Lagonda products?
Where Aston Martin’s current range – V8 Vantage, DB9 and DBS – has a strong sporting GT character, future Lagonda models will add ‘exclusive, luxurious and truly versatile’ qualities into the mix. Bez said that the first reborn Lagonda model ‘could be in the market in 2012.’
The announcement comes as Aston Martin enjoys its sixteenth month of independence. Today it sells Aston Martin sports cars in 32 countries globally; the company today pledged it could – with the Lagonda relaunch – extend that sales reach into 100 countries around the world.
Lagonda certainly has a lot of history…
You bet. It was founded in Staines, Middlesex early last century, and was incorporated into Aston Martin after the second world war. In recent years it produced the boxish Aston Martin Lagonda saloon in the 1980s, but since then the badge has been reserved for motor show specials.
It’s telling that Gaydon will badge the new Rapide four-door in 2009 as an Aston, not a Lagonda. And the shockingly expensive £1.2 million One-77 hypercar will also be badged as an Aston.
What should Aston Martin do with the new Lagonda marque? Click ‘Add your comment’ and dish out your advice
