Aston Martin says its 'DNA' doesn't allow for SUVs

GAYDON, WARWICKSHIRE, England, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Aston Martin has a message for anyone awaiting the luxury British automaker's first sport-utility vehicle: Don't hold your breath.

In an interview with The Drive this month, Aston Martin Chief Executive Andy Palmer dismissed any idea of his company introducing a SUV -- as competitors Rolls Royce and Bentley have done.

His reason? Trying to find a beautiful SUV is like trying to find a unicorn.

"Every one of our customers has a Range Rover sitting in their garage. So the sensible decision would be to make a Range Rover," Palmer said. "But our DNA doesn't allow us to go there."

The auto chief said the three tenets of the Aston Martin brand -- power, beauty and soul -- are simply inconsistent with a straight-forward SUV.

"There is no beauty in there. You cannot make a beautiful SUV. It's impossible," he added. "The raison d'être of an SUV is basically maximizing versatility, maximizing space, which means you make a box.

"And boxes aren't beautiful."

For decades, Aston Martin has created top-shelf sports and luxury vehicles -- like the V12-powered Vanquish -- and the chief executive believes making a SUV flies in the face of that image.

After all, the automaker was first put on the map by James Bond. An Aston Martin will have appeared in exactly half of the 24 Bond films between 1964's Goldfinger and this year's Spectre -- which is perhaps the biggest reason for the automaker's blue ribbon reputation.

The Britain-based automaker, though, does have a compromise coming down the pike -- the DBX electric crossover concept.

"I asked my team at Aston Martin to expand their thinking beyond conventions, to explore what the future of luxury GT motoring would look like in years ahead, and the DBX Concept ... is the result," Palmer said in March.

Aston Martin continues to try and assert a place atop the luxury car market. Owned by Ford Motor Company between 1994 and 2007, the automaker now operates under a new consortium of owners whose primary goal is to be the cream of the luxury market crop.

And making a SUV, Palmer believes, would be a nail in the tire on that road.

"Do you really need to be able to climb the side of the Matterhorn? No. Do you really need to be able to load the dogs and three weeks of luggage? No," he told The Drive.