The DBX is a car for Aston Martin, as it marks a new adventure in the ever-popular SUV market. It is also a component of the company’s “seven cars in seven years” business strategy, which will come with Lagonda’s evolution as an all-electric ultra-luxury brand.
DBX is the first product to be manufactured in the new plant in Wales, United Kingdom. The design is clear, with its fluid volume, sunken shoulder line that tilts a little backwards, its crisp graphics on the sides and its coupe-shaped tapered roof line. The wheelbase extends as far as you can imagine, so the wheels sit on the corners, which, along with the low roof line, provides the ghost of a smaller sports car and is helping to make the SUV as Aston Martin as you can imagine.
I met with executive vice president and creative director Marek Reichman to design demanding situations related to the sketch of an Aston Martin SUV.
Nargess Banks: Global luxury had replaced even before the pandemic crisis. Some luxury brands are now talking about a post-opulence and post-hedonistic era on the horizon. Does DBX respond to this report?
Marek Reichman: Yes, to the extent that the car uses lightweight design technologies to be a more effective product, it has a glued aluminum design and we use hybrid fabrics to decrease its weight. All of this also gives the DBX higher performance. It also helps make the car look smaller and less like a square box, this is how you would associate the visual language of an SUV.
NB: Aston Martin manufactures eloquent sports cars. How was the first design of an SUV that demands an absolutely different ratio?
MR: We looked for a good look across the proportions, making sure that the wheelbase was in the correct position to excel from the height of the car and the position of the driving force and the passenger. That’s why the DBX has a longer wheelbase than its competitors, with a shorter overhang to maximize the inner volume.
NB: And to what extent has the design been developed as the task has been developed?
MR: I mean the “golden ratio” and how it evolves through the process. In this car, we stayed true to the original comic strip that had the feeling that an Aston Martin has a very dynamic visual appeal: it has a sense of movement even when it’s static. We use an established design and modeling to translate Aston Martin’s DNA into surface language and the feel of an SUV.
NB: What were the demanding situations of translating a design theme that works so with your sports cars – this exotic drama – into a larger and bulkier SUV style?
MR: The challenge of getting a giant ratio: the correct position and an exclusive delay between the wheels and the side and front view appearance window. The creation of our own plats-like aluminum design forms one of the maximum vital points to shape an incredibly dynamic and exotic SUV with the right proportions of Aston Martin.
NB: Has retained sports car elements; Swan-shaped hinged doors, for example, are very Aston Martin. Why put it in the SUV you barely want it?
MR: Yes, we’ve retained sports car elements. The hinged doors are still there because it’s an Aston Martin signature. They are not included only to prevent the door from hitting the sidewalk, but also to ensure that the door stays open and motionless every time the driving force or passenger is opened.
NB: The grille is also impressive, as is the rear.
MR: Yes, it’s the biggest grill we’ve ever created in an Aston Martin. This is vital because this is our first adventure in the world of SUVs, so it had to look like an Aston Martin. The back of the DBX is necessarily a combination of dynamic language with many unique aerodynamic surfaces.
NB: The interior features a classic and sumptuous sporty environment with abundant flexible leather and intricate seams and Alcantara elements on the sunroof. What were the demanding situations of moving the surroundings of a sports car to a larger circle of family cars?
MR: We use fabrics that we are used to use, such as leather and Alcantara. There are also exclusive seams and hand-carved wood to help create an herbal atmosphere. It was vital to maintain the feeling of a sports car within the DBX. It was also an access and an exit, which makes it less difficult to get in and out of the car and have the right H-spot for the rear door to open at a top-notch angle so passengers can more easily access the rear seats. .
NB: What about your trunk design?
MR: We were looking to have a very simple, straight, low-seat boot in one position. This allows us to apply the technical benefits we have already incorporated into our sports cars.
NB: In the future, would you like the interior to express a more sustainable and progressive luxury material?
MR: Yes, it’s very long-term for us. We have shown with Lagonda’s commission that we are very open to running with sustainable fabrics. We examine vegan fabrics such as sedes and ceramics, herbal woods, herbal wool and non-animal fabrics. We also study the use of technical fibers in our long-lasting Aston Martins and Lagonda vehicles.
NB: What did they tell you about the DBX mapping that will influence your long-term cars?
MR: We conduct comprehensive studies on usage models because an SUV has a wider diversity of features: examine the wishes of male and female clients, as well as families, to see how DBX would be used in other scenarios running and shutting down. The road. Some of the effects will apply to long-lasting sports cars.
NB: Aston Martin recently partnered with Airbus in a helicopter and you are interested in outdoor lifestyle projects in the automotive industry. How do those elements influence your design frames with cars?
MR: Non-automotive projects allow designers to make other explicit. We know other fabrics and notice the limitations of these fabrics, as well as the models of use. It’s a smart way to be informed of how we apply our automotive wisdom to other sectors as well. In many ways, we are still informed of cross-fertilization concepts from other sectors, all in the individual field of higher net worth.
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I explore the links between design, innovation and customer culture. For twenty years, my writings have made the impression in foreign media, adding Forbes Lifestyle and W
I explore the links between design, innovation and customer culture. For the more than twenty years, my writings have been broadcast in foreign media, adding Forbes Lifestyle and Wallpaper. I write lifestyle books, direct Design Talks and act as a forecaster and logo representative at Spinach Branding.