One of the world's most revered luxury sports car brands, Aston Martin, has achieved significant success with a now archaic vehicle architecture, introduced back in 2001. But Aston has finally made the switch to a new platform – and it could catapult the brand to a new level.
The vehicle seen in these spy photos is understood to be the DB9's replacement, which could be renamed the DB11 and is expected to debut in 2016.
It rides on a brand-new lightweight aluminium platform that will eventually underpin the majority of the Aston Martin line-up – which means a complete range renewal for the iconic brand over the next four or five years.
Apart from being significantly lighter and fitted with a range of cool new techno doodads, the adoption of a new vehicle architecture or platform will also allow for a range of new engines, which is where things get exciting.
Aston Martin has formed a technical alliance with Mercedes-Benz that will see it adopt the German marque's 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, the most likely engine for the car in these photos. That engine pumps out 375kW/650Nm, almost as much as Aston Martin's current V12.
So the new DB11 will be dramatically lighter, more powerful, and more dynamic than before, but it remains to be seen whether the new model will be as sharp as the Ferrari 488 GTB.
Judging by these spy photos snapped at the Nurburgring, the car may be slightly shorter than before but will retain the trademark Aston silhouette. Design cues including a long bonnet, sleek roofline and low-slung stance will be familiar and bonnet vents are in evidence too.
A new front-end design can be partially discerned, although the psychedelic 'magic eye' camouflage does a good job of hiding the smaller details.
It's difficult to get a read on the headlights, and brake lights are clearly stuck on aftermarket jobbies for the time being, but it's clear that the new generation of vehicles will be evolutionary design updates as opposed to something radically different.
Following the new DB11 pictured here, Aston Martin will eventually deploy new-generation versions of its entire range, including the entry-level V8 Vantage (from $231,000), the V12 Vantage (from $389,300), to the Vanquish (from $479,995).
But as Aston Martin's chief executive officer Andy Palmer told US mag Car and Driver the Rapide will be killed off and replaced with two new models, a Lagonda four-door luxury sedan and an SUV. The former has been seen in the form of the Lagonda Taraf that is not available in Australia and the latter was previewed by a DBX concept car revealed at the 2015 Geneva motor show.
It's understood the DBX will not be a two-door vehicle as per the concept car but a conventional four-door SUV. And the kicker? It could be built outside of the UK. According to the Financial Times several US states are aggressively lobbying the company to build the new SUV, which will account for the lion's share of Aston sales by the turn of the decade.
Aston Martin sold around 4000 cars in 2014 and wants to boost that number to around 15,000 by decades end. The renewed model range and adoption of an SUV will go a long way towards achieving that objective.