Aston Martin Lagonda SUV on Indefinite Hold

According to the sources, Aston Martin Lagonda Chairman David Richards was one of many inside and outside the company who were not pleased with the Lagonda SUV at Geneva. One source told IL that Richards was believed not even to have seen the concept until very late in its development. The Lagonda concept was yanked unceremoniously from the Geneva stand during the second press day, so the public never got to see it. The explanation at the time was that the concept was needed elsewhere on a tight schedule.

Aston Martin Lagonda boss Ulrich Bez told us that the project is on indefinite hold, due primarily to the poor global economic climate. "We have several sources ready to invest upward of a quarter-billion pounds," said Bez, "but the timing right now is simply wrong. We have some work to do yet, and it takes a lot of investment."

IL spoke with others who did not wish to be named at the company's Gaydon headquarters. A comment made by several is that no one wants to take ownership of the project. Richards, they said, wants to get another concept onto the stand at a major auto show this year. "Well at least you could say we put it out there," said one Aston source, "and now maybe we know what we don't want to build. It certainly got people talking."

"Our intention with Lagonda,"says Bez, "is to produce as much volume as we see today from Aston Martin. So essentially, doubling our volumes once up and running."

Inside Line says: The Lagonda unveil at Geneva swiftly went from big surprise to big flop. Could Aston Martin be wary of turning Lagonda into a sales flop like Maybach? — Matt Davis, Correspondent