The S.U.V.-ification of Everything Comes to Classic British Marques

“The vast majority of our customer base already owns an S.U.V.,” Mr. Moran said. “And I think we’ve seen in the high-luxe S.U.V. segment, for our competitors who have an S.U.V., how much it makes up of their portfolio. We see a correlation with DBX in terms of the role it will play in the Aston brand.”

While Land Rover already produces half a dozen luxury sport utes, Joe Eberhardt, the Jaguar Land Rover North America chief executive, expects the United States “to be the biggest market, globally, for Defender,” with sales “around the volumes we see for Range Rover or Range Rover Sport.” Together, those vehicles account for half the brand’s American output.

From behind the wheel, these vehicles fulfill their missions. The Aston, whose base price starts a couple of lattes shy of $193,000, is the sportiest, with a 542-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 engine. Though it weighs nearly 5,000 pounds, on back roads it feels nearly as nimble as the brand’s Vantage or DB11 sports car, though it’s less afraid of a little sand and gravel.

Sadly, the infotainment system — purchased, like the engine, from Mercedes-Benz, which owns a 5 percent stake in Aston Martin — is generations behind and already outmoded. Fortunately, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which mirror the functions of your phone on the vehicle’s screen, make up for the infotainment system’s irrelevance, and the DBX’s alluring shape and generous helpings of leather cement its appeal.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/business/suvs-aston-martin-bentley-land-rover.html