Dubai: Aston Martin knows a thing or two about making limited edition series work for it. And it’s paying handsomely for those lucky enough to get their hands on them.
Take a 2014 Vantage Zagato, for instance. Selling for £330,000 (Dh1.6 million) at the time, it is commanding £850,000 in open auction. Going further into the past/future, a 1984 DB5 with a then sticker price of £11,500 is now “a 1.6 million pound asset”. Guess depreciation and an Aston Martin are at odds. Some of that formula could apply for the strictly limited production run of the Vanquish Zagato, featuring 99 models apiece of the Couple, the Volante and the Shooting Brake, all of which are sold. And then there is the even further limited run for Vanquish Zagato Speedster, of which there is going to be just a meagre 28.
“It’s a transformation for the brand and what our “second century plan” is about,” said Christopher Sheppard, CEO for the MENA operations. “Northern America is taking in a lot of the special editions, and so is the Middle East. “The second century plan is essentially about steering Aston Martin into the luxury carmaker universe while still holding onto our sports car DNA.
“The DB11 launched early this year in these markets was the first our vehicles conforming to the plan. We started with the V12 and now have the V8 version — but I can tell you the performance sounds and feels like a true Aston Martin. The V8 was launched in the last six to eight weeks, so customer orders haven’t started to come through. But they are very much in the pipeline.” (Just over 2,400 units of the DB11 was sold worldwide in the first-half of the year.) Is it all part of a cold, calculated plan on Aston Martin’s part? “I can’t say there’s anything cold about it … but calculated, yes,” said Sheppard. We know this region is fond of having very exclusive products.”
UAE remains the biggest market
The carmaker is coming out with even more restricted production models exclusively for Middle East buyers. (The UAE remains the biggest market. It could add Iran as soon as the sanctions on international banking is fully lifted. It has already identified the partners.) “We sit in a situation where we can be incredibly agile with the requirements,” the regional CEO added. “The Pearl was the first car we would experiment with and with a limited number of 10. With the success of Pearl, we got another two models coming — for later this year and very early into the first quarter of 2018. Those too are designed just for the Middle East.
“We are looking at delivery before the end of the first quarter of 2018. Got them rolling through, but haven’t communicated those to customers yet.”
In more than one way, the brand is hitting its strides. Overall production is putting on new muscles. Last year saw production at 3,500 units, and that will be raised to 5,500 this year and 7,500 in 2018, with help from a second plant in the UK.
“When the new SUV is built, that could well double our production and require a separate facility of its own,” said Sheppard.
“The Innovation partnership with Red Bull racing continues and that’s right at the extreme end of hypercar design. We have agreements for extremely limited versions with design houses and coach builders such as Zagato.”
Factbox: Get set for a ride in a Valkyrie
The prototype of the Valkyrie will do the rides from the first quarter of 2018, and paving the way for deliveries to start from the first quarter of 2019.
During this phase, Aston Martin needn’t bother selling the car. All 150 units of the limited edition are sold, including 24 buyers from the Middle East. And there are also the oversubscriptions.
“We are now in the process of sitting down with those Middle East customers and specking their cars,” said Christopher Sheppard at Aston Martin Mena.
Those chaps who missed out on the initial Valkyrie order could still try their luck with the 25 “track” cars. These have not been released as yet.
