Aston Martin in talks with Mercedes to build SUV

It’s reported by Bloomberg that Aston Martin are in serious talks with Mercedes to produce a new Lagonda SUV built on the platform of the next generation Mercedes ML.

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The Aston Martin tie-up with Daimler’s AMG to produce new engines for Aston Martin was always likely to be just the tip of the iceberg of co-operation between the 3-pointed star and Gaydon.

That’s because it’s not just new engines that Aston Martin needs, but new platforms too to replace its one and only ageing platform. And the first candidate for platform donation from Mercedes was always likely to be an SUV platform to build a Lagonda SUV on.

That was on the cards four years ago when Aston Martin revealed the (much panned) Lagonda SUV which had been put together on the platform of the current Mercedes ML.

And now it seems, according to Bloomberg, that the first serious talks about extending the Aston Martin Mercedes deal are underway, with AML wanting to take the platform of the next generation ML – due in three years – as the basis for a redesigned Lagonda SUV.

Whether that will mean Daimler taking a bigger stake in AML – or buying it outright – remains to be seen, but it seems all but certain that the only viable route for a solid future for AML is to acquire not just the ML’s platform for the SUV, but probably the next generation Mercedes SL platform to underpin the DB9/Vanquish and Vantage models too, as well as the S-Class platform for a Lagonda saloon.

Which could ensure Aston Martin have a properly viable future.