Aston Martin Rapide 2011 News

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 

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."