NEW ASTON BOSS SPELLS OUT VISION FOR FUTURE

Hallmark wants more hybrids, more model variants and an EV by 2030

- JAMES ATTWOOD

Aston Martin will rapidly expand its hybrid line-up and increase the number of model variants it offers in the coming years, according to new boss Adrian Hallmark - and it will launch its first electric vehicle before the end of this decade.

Former Bentley boss Hallmark took over as CEO of the sports car firm in September last year and has been working on a revised strategy for the coming decade.

Hallmark said he had been tempted into joining Aston because it was "an amazing brand" with "great potential, great shareholders and investment for the future, and a product portfolio we have never had before and couldn't have dreamed of".

The dramatic growth in the number of luxury car buyers in recent years has expanded Aston's market potential, he said, and the key to its future success is that "the plan has got to be boring and stable. You can create the excitement around you, but you don't create excitement by ripping the plan up every five minutes."

ELECTRIFICATION

Previous Aston management touted plans to use plug-in hybrid powertrains as a 'transitional' technology on the firm's path to electrification. Speaking to a select group of reporters, including Autocar, Hallmark said the electrification pathway is "not as clearcut as three or five years ago, but the general direction is absolutely towards electrification. Our commitment is towards carbon-neutral or net zero. But to get there we will double down and add incremental products in the hybrid space before we get to full electric."