Aston Martin Flirts With Daimler
Der Spiegel reports that Aston Martin Boss Ulrich Bez met with Daimler's Dr Z last week, and both came away talking relationship. The two met to discuss the possibility of Aston purchasing engines and platforms from the German giant. Bez is just looking for a new technology partner, after the legendary British brand was bought by private investors. But Dr Z thinks love might be in the air, telling Der Spiegel that Aston "fits perfectly with Mercedes-Benz." But a German takeover of yet another British marque looks unlikely, as Aston investors are not ready to take the relationship to that level. After a few intoxicating product cycles with hot-shit AMG engines draped in sensual Aston metal, the attraction may just be too strong for either side to deny. Needless to say, we'll be watching creepily from our little corner of the internet.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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If you like how Aston's sound now, you wont have a problem with a 6.2L AMG V8 stuffed under there. The only difference is you'll get some go with all that wonderful noise.
Hmmm, I guess Daimler's interest in AM is of the automotive kind, unless AM has say, $10 billion in cash laying around.
Would Aston, Jaguar and Land Rover together have had the critical mass required to develop leading edge engines? This problem of staying at the leading edge of engine development seems to be a constant issue for niche auto makers. Volvo seems to have pulled it off as even it's current engine lineup is largely versions of the "white block" engines first developed for the 850 and 960. Sure the Volvo V-8s are from the Ford family ... but Volvo should not be using V-8s anyway! Saab always had problems in this regard. Jaguar was stuck with the same basic engine far, far longer than it was competitive with until Ford dumped bucket loads of cash in. Speaking of which, if the Tata purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover goes through, where is Tata going to get leading edge engines from? Do they have enough cash to pour into Jag-Rover to go it alone? Ford's focus on mass market vehicles makes sense, but also means that Ford is highly unlikely to develop luxury vehicle class competitive engines in the future. Then there is the whole issue of meeting ever tighter fuel economy/CO2 emission regulations going forward. Gulp.
This is one thing they need to make happen ASAP. God that would be amazing.