Aston Martin to make combustion engine cars beyond UK ban
Luxury car maker Aston Martin (AML.L) has said it will continue making cars powered solely by an internal combustion engine (ICE) beyond 2030.
The British carmaker vowed to cater to global petrol enthusiasts despite the UK banning the sales of combustion engine cars after 2030.
The government’s new rules require every new vehicle sold in Britain to be electric or a form of hybrid by 2030. ICE cars Aston makes beyond the ban will not be eligible to be sold in their home market, at least for road driving.
Its executive chairman, Lawrence Stroll speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit said there were “always going to be enthusiasts” who would want cars powered solely by ICE, and Aston would cater for them.
While the company will introduce hybrid and electric cars by 2025, Stroll said that by 2030, 5% of its business will still “always be ICE” adding that he “never see it going down to zero.”
When asked if that would still be the case further in the future, from 2050 to 2060, he said: “That is beyond the horizon I’m looking at.”
Stroll, who played a key part in the company’s £500m ($672m) rescue deal, also aims to restore the Aston luxury credentials.
Aston unveiled a partnership with Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz (DAI.DE), which will see the German company increase its stake in Aston to up to 20% by 2023, making it one of its largest shareholders.
The deal will see an existing supply agreement between the two firms — which has been in place since 2013 — expanded to give Aston access to Mercedes’ hybrid and electric drive technology.
READ MORE: UK plans to ban new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030
Speaking on Brexit Stroll said that the company would never leave Britain, despite trade challenges. “Aston Martin has to stay in the UK, it’s such a big part of its DNA,” he said.
Aston is curbing the trend across carmakers of phasing out traditional petrol engines to meet tightening requirements.
Earlier this week, Volvo’s (VOLV-B.ST) chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said that the Swedish firm is aiming to be fully electric by 2030.
Meanwhile, Honda’s (HMC) European director Ian Howells said that every car will be hybrid or electric within two years. The Japanese carmaker will stop selling petrol and diesel cars in Europe in 2022.
In November, prime minister Boris Johnson said he wants to bring forward the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in the UK to 2030, from the current planned date of 2040.
This new target is part of his overall plan to migrate Britain to more climate-friendly energy and transportation.
If the fossil-fuel vehicle ban is implemented in 2030, it would make the UK second only to Norway, which will enforce its ban in 2025.
Watch: Would UK be ready for 2030 new petrol car ban?
