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Aston Martin expanding Lagonda Taraf availability outside of Middle East

Aston Martin has been working at reviving the Lagonda marque for several years now. But when it finally did with the Taraf sedan, it was initially prepared to offer it only in the Middle East. That apparently ruffled some feathers with prospective buyers in other parts of the world, which has prompted Aston to expand the super-sedan's availability to additional markets. Moving forward, the Lagona Taraf will now be available in EU-compliant markets, including the UK, Europe and South Africa, and will be offered in both left- and right-hand-drive configurations. Those will still need to be spread out, however, among the strictly limited run of 200 examples, to be built along the same small-batch assembly line responsible for other exclusive offerings like the V12 Zagato, the One-77 and the new Vulcan. The Taraf was launched a few months ago in Dubai, based on Aston's long-serving VH architecture and ubiquitous 6.0-liter V12. With styling inspired by the iconically wedge-shaped Aston Martin Lagonda sedan of the 1970s, it stretches longer than the Rapide for more interior space, and retails for an undisclosed price. Unfortunately, no announcement was made regarding potential availability in North America, so despite the expanded scope of the Taraf's market, it looks like we'll still be left out of the action. Reached for comment, Aston Martin told Autoblog that there's no update yet on US availability, but that the prospect remains unlikely. We'll sure to keep you posted if we hear otherwise, but given the confirmation of European availability, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Taraf on Aston's show stand in Geneva this week. ASTON MARTIN EXPANDS LAGONDA TARAF LUXURY SALOON AVAILABILITY - New Lagonda Taraf will be offered to customers outside the Middle East - Series production remains limited to 200 bespoke limousines - Super saloon will be available in left or right-hand drive 28 February 2015, Gaydon: Aston Martin is today announcing that the luxurious new Lagonda super saloon will be made available, in strictly limited numbers, to more customers around the world. Aston Martin will now accept orders for the Lagonda Taraf – the latest in a proud line of saloons revered worldwide as 'the finest of fast cars' – from prospective owners in more major markets.

Chris Harris pits Aston GT12 vs 911 GT3 RS vs McLaren 650S

The Geneva Motor Show is never lacking in exciting performance machinery. And this year was no exception. Our eyes, like those of Chris Harris, were drawn by two hardcore, track-focused versions of existing sports cars. Both wore the name GT3, and now Harris has brought them together for a supercar shootout. And he's thrown one more in for good measure. Those natural rivals are the Aston Martin Vantage GT12 and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the latter manufacturer having pressed the former to drop the GT3 name to which it claims exclusive domain. There's a great deal that separates them, of course: one's got a V12 up front, the other a flat-six way in the back. But what binds them together is a common approach of taking an existing model, stripping it down, and tightening everything up to make it more of a weapon than a grand tourer. What that means in the Aston's case is a rather high price tag, much higher than that of the Porsche. But scarce demand and speculation on the open market have left British customers, at least, paying as much for the GT3 RS as for the limited-edition Aston. And that takes both into proper supercar territory. So to show what else that kind of money can get you, Monkey has brought along a McLaren. Not the similarly track-focused 675LT, but the standard 650S... Spider, no less, and with worn hard rubber. So which one performs best on the road? Which clocks the fastest lap time on the track? And which gets Harris' vote? You'll have to watch the video for yourself to find out, but it's well worth the 25 minutes of your lunch break. News Source: Chris Harris on Cars via YouTube Aston Martin McLaren Porsche Videos porsche 911 gt3 chris harris mclaren 650s

Aston Martin wants to be the Hermes of the car world

Aston Martin doesn't want its wealthy potential customers to perceive the brand as just another sports car maker. The company wants to transform those perceptions so that buyers see its products as luxury goods on par with high-end accessories. If this change can successfully bring in more cash, the business could consider an initial public offering in the coming years. "We seek to position ourselves as the automotive equivalent of Hermes, not as the counterpart of Ferrari." CEO Andy Palmer explained the change to Bloomberg, referencing the boutique French brand. The desire to change buyer impressions comes as Aston Martin pivots away from a focus predominantly on sports cars and more towards high-performance luxury vehicles. For example, the company already has sedans in the lineup like the Rapide and Lagonda Taraf. The future range will also reportedly include an electric Rapide and another Lagonda. The production version of the DBX crossover (concept above) will add one more segment around 2019. However, Aston Martin won't completely abandon coupes because the DB11 will arrive in 2016, and a new Vanquish and Vantage will eventually follow. For Aston Martin to have a future, Palmer believes the company needs to look in new directions, especially with models like the DBX. According to Bloomberg, execs there hope that appealing to more customers could help the business see a net profit in the next three years, which hasn't happened since 2010. To save even more money going forward, the business recently cut 15 percent of its workforce mostly from white collar employees. Featured Gallery Aston Martin DBX: Monterey 2015 View 16 Photos News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Aston Martin Crossover Luxury Performance Sedan aston martin rapide aston martin lagonda aston martin dbx