More Than A Sporting Chance - Sunday Drive

The new SUV from the traditional AstonMartin may be the game changer the company needs

- Hormazd sorabjee

How does one begin to describe the significance of the AstonMartin DBX? Yes, it is the first SUV from the iconic brand in its 106-year existence, and when it goes on sale in the second half of 2020, it will join the ranks of super SUVs like the Lamborghini Urus, Bentley Bentayga, and Porsche Cayenne. Yes, the DBX is late to the party but it will unlock a new and broader customer base. The British sports carmaker hopes to sell more than 4,000 DBXs a year and boost total Aston sales past the magical 10,000 mark. In fact, the DBX is the great white hope charged with reviving an ailing AstonMartin.

So the DBX has to be not just good but great if it is to resurrect the company. To give us a taste of things to come, we got to sample a prototype version last month in Oman. To make it clear, this wasn’t the finished product; the photos were lightly disguised, more by way of large sponsor stickers than a camouflage, and an unwashed coat of mud and grime collected over the course of the two-week-long media test-drive program.

SPACE JUNKIE