Aston Martin Confirms Plan for SUV

Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. CEO Ulrich Bez tells Autocar the company remains hopeful of eventually producing the Lagonda SUV concept it unveiled in 2009.

The company has scrapped its earlier plan to relaunch Lagonda as a separate brand. Instead, Bez says, the SUV would be badged as the Aston Martin Lagonda.

But when that might occur is unclear. The company continues to struggle financially after reporting a 13% drop in revenue and 28 million ($45 million) loss last year.

An SUV is "still on the radar," according to Bez. But he tells Autocar there are no production prototypes, signaling that the vehicle is unlikely to come to market for many years. He hints that the SUV could be co-developed with Mercedes-Benz under the technical partnership announced in July between Aston Martin and Daimler AG.

Bez points out that the Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg SUVs were co-developed on the same platform but offer very different results. He says a similar arrangement between Aston Martin and Mercedes "would be possible."