Aston Martin's DBX SUV due in 2019 could help more than double sales by early next decade, its chief executive has told Reuters.
Entry into the fast growing, super premium SUV market, already inhabited by the likes of Bentley with Rolls-Royce coming, "absolutely changes the business" Andy Palmer told the news agency in an interview in the US.
It could boost Aston's sales to as many as 12,000 vehicles a year by early next decade, over double the 5,000 or so sports cars the company expected to sell globally this year, he forecast.
Aston's previous peak sales year was 2007 when it sold 7,300 cars just before the financial crisis, Reuters noted.
Palmer said US sales could reach about 1,300 cars this year, spurred by the new DB11.
"I am not claiming success," he said. The goal is to sell over 2,000 cars a year in the US.
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By GlobalDataThe DBX will be a four-door SUV designed to compete with the likes of the Bentley Bentayga, billed as "the fastest SUV ever built".
DBX design "is complete", Palmer told Reuters, and the factory should be building prototypes by the end of 2018.
Reuters said SUVs accounted for nearly 40% of total US vehicle sales in 2016, up from 32.6% in 2014, and super premium models are one of the fastest growing segments.
Reuters noted that under Palmer, a former Nissan Motor executive, Aston Martin has restructured and issued GBP550m in debt securities due in 2022.
That year is also near the end of Palmer's restructuring plan. By then, Aston Martin – with the DBX SUV and the relaunch of the Lagonda brand – will have a profile similar to Ferrari, Palmer said, adding: "Ferrari is a $15bn company."
Decisions about a public offering or a sale of the company are up to the Kuwaiti and Italian investors who control it, Palmer told Reuters. "One assumes they will want an exit."
Aston will eventually offer hybrid options on all its models and will build a limited run of 155 RapidE electric cars in 2019 that will serve as a test fleet for developing a future generation of electric cars, Palmer told Reuters.
"The idea that every vehicle on the road will be electric in 2040 isn't going to happen," he said.
The company recently established an engineering consulting arm. "It's starting to get its first contracts," Palmer told Reuters.