Lagonda Concept - not an SUV now!

The Concept Lagonda showed at Geneva will not be made

Aston Martin did take some stick when it showed its Lagonda Concept at Geneva last month. I have to confess that we were amongst the vocal majority who just didn’t see what they were trying to achieve. Why would Aston Martin even consider a huge SUV as an appropriate way to revive the Lagonda Marque?

But actually, much as we disliked the idea of using Lagonda in this way, Aston Martin’s logic was pretty good. Emerging markets like big, opulent cars. Fair point. Emerging markets tend to have a lot of rotten roads. No argument with that. Therefore, a big, opulent 4×4 makes sense. Well, it does, but…

We still can’t get our heads round using the Lagonda name in this way. And a few weeks back we brought news that Aston Martin were working on another Lagonda Concept that definitely wasn’t a 4×4. We also suggested that if Aston Martin wanted to build the 4×4 concept that perhaps they should use another name at their disposal – Tickford for example. Although I suppose that’s just not well enough known to carry much kudos, at least outside the UK.

But now Aston Martin are saying that the first Lagonda definitely won’t be a 4×4 after all. Marcel Beci, Aston Martin’s Euro boss, has now stated publicly that Lagonda will NOT have an SUV/Crossover, however luxurious, in its lineup. Which is exactly what we, and many others, have railed against.

Maybe they listened. Maybe it was a joke! Who knows, but at least the Lagonda name won’t be desecrated by using it to promote a tarted up Mercedes GL to third-world barons.