Aston Martin won’t build a dramatic, all-electric flagship wearing the Lagonda name, with the company’s first electric vehicles to instead wear the Aston Martin badge.
Carscoops reports the company has scrapped plans to build a production version of the 2019 Lagonda All-Terrain concept and revive the Lagonda name as a standalone brand.
The production crossover was set to start production in 2022 at the St Athan, Wales plant where the DBX is built.
The Financial Times reported the St Athan plant will still be used to produce electric vehicles, including an electric SUV and sports car albeit for the more widely known Aston Martin brand.
An all-electric DBX is reportedly due in 2025, though a plug-in hybrid version will appear before then.
Instead of being reborn as a standalone brand, Lagonda will reportedly be used on exclusive versions of Aston Martin models in a similar fashion to how Mercedes-Benz now uses the Maybach name.
The company had initially touted Lagonda would be the world’s first zero-emission luxury brand.
The All-Terrain concept was a “near future study” and featured a rakish silhouette and dramatic rear end design.
It followed the 2018 Lagonda Vision concept, a sedan with very similar design cues but an even more rakish profile.
The scrapping of the production All-Terrain is the latest change to Aston’s electric vehicle strategy since Lawrence Stroll’s investment in the company last year and his appointment as chairman.
An electric version of the Rapide was set to be the first electric vehicle from Aston Martin Lagonda until the company scuttled it in favour of prioritising the launch of the crucial DBX.
The Lagonda revival has had a few false starts.
Acquired in 1947 by Aston Martin, the Lagonda brand faded from existence only for Aston to occasionally dust off the nameplate for prototypes and concepts.
That changed in 1976 with the introduction of the flagship Aston Martin Lagonda sedan, which featured some of the wildest styling yet seen on a sedan.
Production ended in 1990 and the Lagonda nameplate fell dormant again.
Then-CEO Ulrich Bez said in 2008 the brand would be revived for “cars which can have a different character than a sports car”, with the company unveiling an SUV concept the following year and promising a range of Lagonda models.
Bez said this would likely include a sporty crossover, a high-riding wagon à la Audi’s allroad models, and a high-end luxury sedan.
Following Bez’s departure, most of these plans were scrapped and the only model to reach production wearing the Lagonda name was the stunning, ultra-exclusive Lagonda Taraf sedan
