Aston Martin Commits to V12s, Plans to Ignore Hybrids

Colum Wood
by Colum Wood

Its rivals in the exotic car business may all be embracing electrification, but Aston Martin has no plans to introduce a hybrid. Not any time soon at least.

“We will not have a hybrid in next year or the year after,” said CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez in a recent interview, commenting that instead the British automaker will continue to focus on maximizing the potential of its conventional gasoline engines… including the V12.

Bez refers to himself as a “purist” and believes sports cars should be “minimalistic,” with light weight as a primary focus. For that reason he doesn’t see adding heavy electric components as a solution – though heavy V12 engines are seemingly not an issue.

SEE ALSO: Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Priced at $184,995

In addition, Bez is worried about the long term reliability of gasoline-electric technology, though does admit he may be old fashioned.

While increasingly rare in the auto industry, Bez is committed to the V12 engine which he says is “very dear” to the brand. The Aston CEO expects the V12 will remain in the product lineup for five to 10 years, though he clarifies that it may not always be of the massive 6.0-liter variety. Instead, “it can be five litres or a smaller one.”

In fact, Bez points out that over the past five years the Aston Martin lineup has improved in fuel economy by 30 percent. The brand, he says, will continue to live up to increasingly strict regulations, while also offering increasing levels of power.

[Source: Drive]

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Colum Wood
Colum Wood

With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.

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