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Weekly Recap: Aston Martin to add another sports car, new Lagonda sedan, EVs

Aston Martin will revamp and expand its lineup as part of a five-year plan laid out by the company's new executives. If it succeeds, the strategy will position Aston for growth as an independent automaker with a more stable future in its second century. Aston will replace all of the cars in its current lineup and add a fourth sports car to its stable. It currently has three: the DB9, Vanquish and Vantage. The unnamed sports car will be joined by a production version of the DBX concept – an all-wheel-drive electric car that treads near crossover territory – that was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show. Aston's electric strategy also includes a potential electric-powered Rapide. Eventually, Aston plans to build a new four-door Lagonda. Though Aston will diversify its portfolio and the range could expand to seven vehicles, it will limit production to around 7,000 units annually, said Aston Martin marketing and communications director Simon Sproule, who described the company's strategy in an interview with Autoblog. CEO Andy Palmer, who joined Aston last year from Infiniti, has also spoken recently about remaking the company for the future. EVs are a major part of Aston's future, Sproule stressed, because they allow the automaker to "balance" its portfolio. Aston is studying the feasibility of an electric Rapide and is working with an undisclosed engineering firm. It's likely to use a plug-in setup and would cost $200,000 to $250,000 or more. It could use either a rear-wheel or all-wheel-drive configuration. View 14 Photos "It's a study, but we're serious about it," Sproule said. He added for emphasis: "If not this, there will be an electric Aston Martin in the future." Aston has taken note of what Tesla has done with the brisk-driving Model S and decided that's the dynamic it wants for some of its own cars. Even though EVs don't emit the same sonorous note as a V12 – they're better than the alternative, Sproule said. "The sound of silence is much more preferable than the sound of a four-cylinder whining away under the hood of an Aston Martin," he said. Speaking of V12s, they're not going away. Aston will continue to make its own V12 engine, but will source its V8 from Mercedes-AMG (whose parent, Daimler, owns a small stake in Aston). While the V12 is sure to please the faithful, Aston admits EVs and the crossover-like DBX will rankle many. Sproule argues those are the moves that will keep Aston relevant.

Indian kids joyride in Ferrari F430

Cars and kids. A lot more people out there have both when they should probably have neither, and this is apparent with this latest video coming out of India. While we can't say for sure who these kids and this car beautiful Ferrari F430 belong to, it's at least the worst display of adult supervision we've seen since last month when two Russian parents let their 8-year-old daughter drive an Audi on snow- and ice-slicked roads.
A young boy who can barely reach the pedals drives up and down the public road with an equally young passenger drive the Ferrari while two adults (Dad of the Year behind the camera?) record the whole event. It seems almost silly to point out, but neither of the juveniles appear to have their seat belts on, as well. As bad as this person's decision making skills are to let a kid drive a car under these conditions, though, his video recording abilities are even worse. Scroll down to check out the video for yourself.

Track lapping in Ferrari's new 488 GTB

With the floodgates opening on impressions about Ferrari's latest 488 GTB, Chris Harris is the latest person to climb into the driver's seat and give his initial opinions on the Prancing Horse's latest turbocharged effort. The 488 GTB is a hard vehicle to pin down, though. It looks vaguely like the naturally aspirated 458 but practically every component is thoroughly revised. While the headline-grabber is the 660-horsepower, 3.9-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 that's positioned behind the driver, the coupe also benefits from new adjustable dampers, upgraded brakes, and more. To figure things out, Harris laps the Prancing Horse around the track and eventually moves to some tight, Italian backroads. Of course being a video from Chris Harris on Cars, you can expect some big, smoky slides in addition to erudite thoughts on this Ferrari with forced induction.