New Lagonda All-Terrain concept previews 2022 luxury SUV
Aston Martin has revealed the new Lagonda All-Terrain concept, which will morph into the reformed brand’s first production model in 2022
This is the Aston Martin Lagonda All-Terrain Concept, a preview of the first production model that the reborn brand will introduce when it returns to the market in 2022.
One of Aston Martin’s Geneva stars, this all-electric SUV builds on the design language introduced by the Lagonda Vision Concept that was shown at the Swiss event 12 months ago. Like the saloon, the All-Terrain Concept is a four-seater in which the front occupants will be able to turn around and chat to those in the back when the vehicle is running in autonomous mode.
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The new model has clear elements of the Vision Concept, but Aston says the SUV takes some design cues from superyachts. This is particularly obvious around the rear, which has a considerable overhang that manages to still look elegant, thanks to the clean, curved belt line running across the hatchback panel.
The car also features rear-hinged back doors (and opening roof panels to further aid access to the seats), and a rear shelf that slides out from the boot floor to give a platform for occupants to sit on. The tail-lights are particularly innovative; they shine down and then reflect out, so the LEDs themselves are hidden from view. Aston says this technique gives the rear a cleaner look.
The cabin uses luxury materials like cashmere and does away with conventional air vents and speaker grilles. It celebrates the starter key, however; the circular item floats when placed in its position, hovering above an electromagnet that’s integrated into the dramatic centre console.
No technical details have been issued but Aston boss Andy Palmer told us, “The All-Terrain Concept is more production feasible. The saloon you saw in Geneva last year assumed solid state batteries, but obviously we aren’t going to use solid state because there won’t be any available - at least, not in the time scale we are talking about.” However, he said the forthcoming Rapide E, which has an 800-volt, 65kWh battery, would act as a “fleet test” for the Lagonda.
Palmer added, “We are working on some novel solutions around the battery and battery range. The interesting thing about the customers in this segment is that the average journey length is 11 miles, and they do on average 27 miles per day. Cars like this are basically used as urban carriages so they aren’t doing big distances. But people worry about range - so there’s a lot of work going into what we think the right size of battery and range is.”
The Lagonda SUV will be manufactured at Aston’s new plant in St Athan, Wales, which is designated the firm’s ‘home of electrification’. There’s no word yet on pricing - although a figure of around £300,000 has been mooted - and Aston is remaining tight-lipped on the name.
The firm did trademark ‘Varekai’ last year, though - a word that means ‘wherever’ in the Romani language. Palmer says there has already been strong interest from potential customers. “We’ve had a fairly significant number of advanced orders based purely on a model. We’re not selling the car yet, but we note down the deposit and will go back to the customer when the time is appropriate.”
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