Aston Martin Rapide News

Aston Martin's first EV, the Rapide E, will be an all-electric rocket-ship with a near-tonne of torque and sprint to 100km/h of under five seconds.

The British-based prestige sports car maker is recalling about 75 per cent of its cars built since late in 2007, after discovering a Chinese supplier was using counterfeit plastic in the accelerator pedals.The recall covers all left-hand drive cars that rolled off the production line since November 2007 and all right-hand drive ones since May 2012, in which there is a risk the pedals may break. The DB9, V8 Vantage, DBS,  Rapide, Rapide S, V12 Vantage, V8 Vantage S and Virage are included in the recall, but the latest Vanquish is not.The recall means thousands of wealthy and celebrity owners around the world will have to return their cars -- including the DBS driven by Daniel Craig in the James Bond movie Quantum Of Solace and a V12 Vantage Roadster he was loaned for his 45th birthday last year.Documents filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration state that a company called Synthetic Plastic Raw Material Co. Ltd. of Dongguan supplied the counterfeit plastic to Shenzhen Kexiang Mold Tool Co. Ltd -- the firm that makes the pedals for Aston Martin.The recall affects 156 cars in Australia, the owners of which are being contacted. "Aston Martin is writing to owners and working through the process of replacing those as quickly as practical," an Aston Martin spokesman said. "However there have been no accidents or instances of the pedal failing here." Aston Martin has announced it will move production of the part to the UK. 

The Aston Martin Rapide S is a GT car that's been redesigned and re-engineered to reassert its position at the top of the GT car tree.Rapide S replaces the outgoing Aston Martin Rapide and is now more refined thanks to a range of additions to the four-seater's interior. There's an imposing new ‘face’ featuring a striking new grille. The front and rear ends have been revised for improved aerodynamics and aesthetics.The visual appeal of the Aston Martin Rapide S is matched by a much more powerful and yet more efficient engine. Changes under the new Rapide's skin are comprehensive, with a version of the new AM11 naturally-aspirated 6.0-litre V12 powerplant.Power jumps significantly from the previous model - by 17 per cent 410kW at 6750rpm. Peak torque increases, too, up from 600Nm to 620Nm at 5000rpm. As a result performance is boosted -- with the 0-100km/h sprint now passing in 4.9 seconds.The naturally aspirated V12 boasts race car technology developments derived directly from Aston Martin Racing. These include lighter, hollow, cam shafts and computer cut combustion chambers.Dual variable camshaft timing, knock sensing, even the fully catalysed stainless steel exhaust system are all engineering advances developed to preserve the V12's position as a mainstay of the Aston Martin range. Fuel economy averages 14.1-litres/100km. Carefully conceived engineering changes give Rapide sharper agility and quicker responses to driver input. Aston Martin's hi-tech Adaptive Damping System (ADS) is fitted offering three settings: ‘Normal’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Track’. The new car boasts a host of new luxury- or sports-orientated options, allowing buyers to more precisely tailor the car to their specific style. 

... but that has not stopped Aston Martin developing a minor facelift for 2013.There is a tweaked nose, with a new rear bumper and spoiler which looks a little bigger, but there could also be a new engine. 

Officially, Bez is 66 and already past the retirement age for an executive with his sort of job - chief executive of Aston Martin.But as I spend my first five minutes with Bez, and hear him talk about everything from electric cars to his 14-year-old daughter, I remember that he is a truly amazing man. He has a crazy collection of glasses, he still loves driving in races, and he has a passion for Aston which is driving the company well beyond any sane limits."What do you mean, I am 67? That is a long, long time away, in November," Bez tells me. "Actually, I do not eventually plan to retire in 2012. As I have decided to become 100 years old I have five or 10 years to continue yet."So that's the age question out of the way. But what about Aston, which has struggled through the global financial crisis and operates in a tiny area of the luxury car business. "We have been in profit in 2008, even in the toughest year. We are looking for about 6000 units this year, provided the global economy does not go down further."Bez has had some big jobs during his career, from Porsche to BMW and even Daewoo, and draws on all that experience with Aston. And he knows exactly where his company fits. "We see a very clear growth in wealth in the world. We can expect a big demand for individualisation. People want to be different," Bez says. "This is the human nature. In a free world it is a very personalised world. This why cars like ours, which are very exclusive, are still successful."He believes Aston will continue to grow through cars like its outrageous One-77 supercar, the four-door Rapide, and the Lagonda SUV that is being developed."It's a little bit, I would compare, with the watch business. At some stage it was thought that technology would overcome the watch business, but fortunately we still build mechanical watches in the way we have done in the past," Bez says. "It is not overcome by electronics. We will see a similar demand in cars. "A car in the mass market will become more anonymous, and less understood, because it's such a dense and complicated package. We will be the jewellers of the transport world and the car."Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

Since cars all deliver on the same basic promise of personal mobility, and many vehicles do it with incredible value and panache, good design can often make the difference between buying and losing.Ian Callum knows it and, after more than four decades of top-class design work on everything from HSV Holdens to Volvos, Aston Martins and now Jaguars, he is the right man to be talking. "This is a time of car design. It's not just styling any more. You really have to understand design, and the elements that make up a good design," Callum says. "We're also seeing a lot of change in the automotive world. The make-up of cars is changing. Designers are going to have an incredible influence."Callum has revolutionised Jaguar design over the past 10 years and just visited Australia to showcase his all-new XJ flagship, which steps right away from anything which has previously worn the brand's leaper mascot. "I didn't want to be a slave to heritage," he says simply.Callum believes good design is simple but incredibly difficult, elegant and timeless, but also challenging and filled with tiny little details. He is rare among designers because he backs his promises with commitment and talent, and is also happy to give an opinion.So, then, how does he judge the work from some of his rivals? Surprisingly, Callum is happy to go on the record with a simple tick-or-cross verdict on the latest designs in showrooms.Here are his ratings: Aston Martin Rapide - tickAudi A5 - tickBMW GT - two crossesBMW X6 - crossFerrari F458 Italia - tickHSV EII Commodore - tickLexus LFA - tickMercedes E-Class - crossMercedes SLS Gullwing - crossNissan GT-R - crossPorsche Panamera - crossRolls-Royce Ghost - tickToyota Prius - tickVolkswagen Golf - tick 

Pre-orders for the new four-door rival to Porsche's Panamera are, says Aston's Australian rep Marcel Fabris, "very strong". "That level of interest at this stage is very encouraging given the current economic climate and minimal publicity the vehicle has received," he says. It's not only the Rapide that is firing up prospective buyers. Mr Fabris confirmed that one order — with a deposit — has already been placed for the near-$3 million One-77 supercar. But Aston is keeping details of the new owner well under its protective wraps. The first Rapide arrives in the first quarter of 2010 with pricing between the existing DB9 and DBS models. That means about $420,000 for the self-titled ‘World's most elegant four-door sports car’. Panamera pricing, announced in February, starts at $270,000 for the rear-drive S and $365,000 for the Panamera Turbo AWD flagship. The Rapide is in its final development stage and Aston Martin says it is on schedule for a public debut in late 2009 and first customer deliveries in early 2010. Aston Martin's chief executive, Dr Ulrich Bez, says the Rapide will complete the company's range of products that convey established attributes of Power, Beauty and Soul. "In 2010 there will be an Aston Martin for every type of sports car customer regardless of the demands of their lifestyle," he says. "The Rapide is the most versatile, bringing a new benchmark of luxury and refinement to both driver and passenger." The Rapide was a concept in 2006 and endured the 2007 buy-out of the then Ford-owned company by a consortium that included ProDrive boss David Richards. It was then fast-tracked to production using a family design sculpture that includes "swan wing" doors that rise upwards and outwards to improve access to the rear seats. The Rapide is powered by a version of Aston Martin's 6-litre V12 engine producing 350kW (470bhp) and 600Nm of torque. The engine is hand built at the company's engine facility in Cologne while the coachwork is at Magna Steyr's new production facility in Graz, Austria.  

Followers of luxury-branded soft-road wagons will have to live without an Aston Martin in the garage.The famed British brand, which has just moved out of the Ford portfolio back into private ownership, has no plans to join everyone from Porsche and BMW to Audi and Mercedes in the four-wheel-drive world.It says it's happy to stay as a solid, profitable maker of exotic sports cars."In the immediate future of 10 years I can rule it out," Aston Martin managing director Ulrich Bez says."At this moment, I do not believe a crossover wagon could help Aston Martin to add value to its brand."Speaking at the world media preview of the V8 Vantage Roadster, Bez admits he has a product plan that includes a secret teaser -- codenamed DB-X -- but will not go into details."DB-X stands for something that, in theory, adds value. I'm not going to say anything about DB-X."The company will put its four-door Rapide flagship, displayed as a concept car at the Detroit Motor Show last year, into production, but Bez says he is not keen to take the company much beyond 9000 cars a year from this year's projected production total of about 7000."A premium brand does not need volume. We will be small. We will be beautiful . . . and profitable."Bez thanks Ford for its ownership and investment and also rules out any involvement in Formula One, despite the F1 plans of Aston's new executive chairman and long-time Aston fan, David Richards."When Ford bought Aston Martin there was no strategic plan. Ford allowed us to survive and prosper. Now we can grow no further . . ," Bez says. "We don't go in Formula One."Bez's position on four-wheel drives, which have been a hit for several luxury brands and even brought Porsche back from near-bankruptcy to the cash-rich company that controls Volkswagen, is emphasised by Aston's head of product communications, Dave King."It's not in the five-year plan. It's not in the 10-year plans," King says.But other stuff is in the product plan at Aston Martin, led by the four-door Rapide. King has early details of the newest stretch of the company's modular VH alloy chassis pack."Rapide will be based on the same platform. It's been pretty much on the backburner. We've done some feasibility work," he says."Ford wasn't in a position to make an investment in that car. The new owners, as one of their first actions, have committed to making that car happen."We've kicked off full steam. We're saying nothing specific on timing except to say it will be this decade."We've been vague because it is early days. I'd anticipate that, in true AM style, it will stay close to the concept car. The production is likely to be 1000 to 2000 cars."King, like Bez, is evasive about DB-X, but rules out anything smaller than the current Vantage models."That was nothing more than a teaser. We are saying there will be more cars in the future," he says."I don't think it will be anything below V8 Vantage. There are great opportunities in there, but not for Aston Martin. Perhaps that's where Jaguar should have gone."