Residuals are definitely something manufacturers need to pay attention to, but if you're in the position Aston is currently, priority number 1 has to be selling more cars. I think this is a great move if that is the metric. North American dealers had a LOT of traffic today and that's exactly what is needed.

 

Why do I have this feeling that AMNA just shot their own foot with this move?

I wonder if AM dealers are feeling the pinch on how to sell the slightly used 2011/2012, which are apparently in the 95s to low 100s, and the left overs 2013/2014.

 

Hi Guys, looks like you have something of a bargain Stateside, I appreciate it won't help nearly new residuals, but looks good value for those buying new It is in essence a lower spec version of the N430 from Europe (without light weight seats/wheels etc), and it has lower spec than the standard US V8 Vantage ( no Bluetooth, Cruise, etc, etc). I have posted the full official spec details below so you can see exactly what is and isn't included..... enjoy....

2015 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT specification
- Two-seat, two-door Coupe or cloth-cover convertible top body style
- Extruded bonded aluminium VH body structure
- Aluminium, magnesium alloy, composite and steel body
- Extruded aluminium door side-impact beams
- Halogen projector headlamps (main beam)
- High Intensity Discharge headlamps (dipped beam)
- All-alloy, quad overhead camshaft, 32-valve 4735 cc V8
- Front mid-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive
- Fully catalysed stainless steel Sports exhaust system with active bypass valves
- Compression ratio 11.3:1
- Max power: 430 bhp (436 PS) at 7,300 rpm
- Max torque: 361 lb ft (490 Nm) at 5,000 rpm
- Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds
- Max speed: 190 mph (305 km/h)
- Rear mid-mounted ‘Sportshift ll**’ seven-speed automated manual transmission with black magnesium paddleshifts or six-speed manual transmission with carbon-fibre gearshift surround
- Alloy torque tube with carbon-fibre propeller shaft
- Limited-slip differential
- Final-drive ratio 3.91:1 (manual) or 4.182:1 (Sportshift ll)
- Front: 8.5J x 19“ Bridgestone Potenza RE050 245/40 ZR19
- Rear: 10J x 19” Bridgestone Potenza RE050 285/35 ZR19
- Rack and pinion, power-assisted steering, 2.62 turns lock-to-lock
- Column tilt and reach adjustment
- Steering rack with 15:1 ratio
- Sports suspension
- Front: Independent double wishbone incorporating anti-dive geometry, coil springs, anti-roll
bar and monotube dampers
- Rear: Independent double wishbones with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bar and monotube dampers
- Front: Ventilated and grooved two-piece floating discs, 380 mm diameter with six-piston monobloc calipers
- Rear: Ventilated and grooved steel discs, 330 mm diameter with four-piston monobloc calipers
- Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) with Track mode
- Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
- Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
- Emergency Brake Assist (EBA)
- Hydraulic Brake Assist (HBA)
- Positive Torque Control (PTC)
- Hill Start Assist (HSA) – Sportshift II only
- Traction control (TC)

Specification:

Standard exterior specification:
- A selection of five exterior liveries incorporating optional GT side nomenclature: o Alloro Green with White
o Jet Black with Silver
o Skyfall Silver with Anthracite o Mariana Blue with Silver
o Speedway White with Silver
- ‘S’ side sills
- V-spoke graphite painted alloy wheels with diamond-turned finish
- Graphite grey brake calipers
- Platinum finish front grille
- Black bonnet and side strake meshes
- Black headlamp bezels
- Black side window trim surround
- Black textured tailpipe finishers
- Clear rear lamps with black surround
- GT tailgate badge
- Special edition engine bay inspection plaque
- Black convertible roof (Roadster only)

Standard interior specification
- Black or Grey interior theme with a choice of accent colour: Yellow, Black, Grey or Red
- Obsidian Black or Argento Grey full-grain leather interior
- Door and seat inserts in Plissé Alcantara® (Coupe only) or indented leather (all models)
- Piano Black facia trim
- Graphite interior trim with Satin Chrome centre console rotary controls
- Pure Black Alcantara® steering wheel with matching stitch (Coupe only) or leather steering
wheel with contrasting on-centre stitch (all models)
- Electrically adjustable Aston Martin Sports seats with side airbags
- Dual-stage driver/passenger front airbags
- Powerfold exterior heated mirrors
- Heated rear screen
- Automatic temperature control
- Organic Electroluminescent (OEL) displays
- Tripcomputer
- Satellite navigation system
- Rear parking sensors and rear parking assist camera
- Tyre pressure monitoring
- Alarm and immobiliser
- Remote control central door locking and boot release
- Glass ECU
- LED map reading lights
- Black anodised tread plates with special edition sill plaque
- Embroidered GT seat logos

In-car entertainment:
- 160W Aston Martin audio system with six-CD autochanger
- Integrated Apple iPod®* connector
- USB connector with Waveform Audio Format (WAF), Windows Media Player (WMA) and
MPEG (MP3) audio file compatibility

Exterior options:
- Vantage GT Graphics Pack: bespoke painted graphics comprising lipstick, mirror caps, A- pillar/cantrail (Coupe only) and rear diffuser blade offered in the following colours for each exterior livery:
o Alloro Green: Yellow o Jet Black: Grey
o Skyfall Silver: White
o Mariana Blue: Red
o Speedway White: Red
- Delete GT side nomenclature
- Black vaned front grille
- 10-spoke forged alloy graphite painted wheels
- Comfort suspension (Coupe only)
- Carbon-Fibre front splitter and rear diffuser
- Carbon-Fibre side strakes
- Carbon-Fibre mirror caps
- Carbon-Fibre rear lamp infills
- Front parking sensors

Interior options:
- ‘Sportshift II’ seven-speed automated manual transmission with 4.182:1 final-drive ratio and black magnesium paddle shifts with accent colour
- Carbon fibre facia trim
- Piano Black interior trim with black anodised centre console rotary controls
- Carbon fibre door grabs
- Heated seats
- Memory seats and exterior mirrors (three positions)
- 700W Aston Martin Premium Audio System with Dolby® Pro Logic II®
- 1000W Bang & Olufsen BeoSound audio system with ICEpower® technology featuring black
anodised speaker grilles and ALT lenses with accent feature
- Technology Pack incorporating cruise control, Bluetooth® telephone preparation and satellite
radio
- Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror with garage door opener
- Alarm upgrade (volumetric and tilt sensor)
- Glass switches
- Second glass ECU
- First aid kit
- Ashtray and cigar lighter
- Boot-mounted umbrella
- Wind deflector (Roadster only)
- Deletion of ‘GT’ seat embroidery
- Aston Martin wings seat embroidery7
- Black leather ECU pouch
- Machined carbon special edition sill plaque

 

This is great to hear for Aston but not so great for current owners. I feel for the folks that purchased new or very lightly used and will instantly see a big depreciation hit.

 

They have chopped the end of the year discount off the upfront price. This essentially means you can order a new V8 to your liking (give or take a few options & colors) instead of buying off the sales floor.

 

This seems really odd to me. Never seen it before. Coming out with an entry level model, yes, but coming out with a deeply discounted version of an existing model? Seems as though it will not only hurt current V8V owners who'd like to sell but also hurt sales of the "regular" Vantage. In addition, it seems like this could tarnish the exclusivity of the marque. I hope these guys know what they're doing.

It is good news for those looking to buy though. I could see buying a used GT as a daily driver in a couple of years. At $80k or so, why not?

 

I have to say that what bothers me most isn't the hit to residuals. What bothers me is the impact on (at least my) brand perception.

I've always considered Aston Martin to be a top end exotic brand rather than whatever the next tier down is. I think of Aston in the league with Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls, Bugatti. True exotics. Somehow, to me, dropping entry price to this level suggests a much more accessible, more common sports car. This is probably my elitist snobbery showing, but I like feeling like Astons are special and exotic in a way that no Porsche ever will be.

Instead of selling more cars to 911 buyers, I'd be so much happier to see Aston Martin selling more cars to 458 and Gallardo buyers.

"Let's make our cars cheaper" seems like a crappy way to sell more cars that are supposed to be special. Wouldn't "Let's make our cars more desirable" be a better strategy?

Yeah, I know the latter isn't so easy and is what they are trying desperately to do with the AMG plan. But the former is, in my opinion, really going to hurt the brand, and that's the most expensive thing of all.

Someone tell me again why the One-77 motor isn't in a production Vanquish S yet.

 

Yep which was an S in all but name
Come on AM sort it and and do something worthwhile!
What about really cheap no options allowed model and a proper stripped out road car, Like Honda did with the S2000 CR version (and sold loads!)

 

There's no reason to buy a regular Vantage or Vantage S anymore. None

 

Lotus did the same thing in the '90s twice. First they slashed the price of the Esprit by about $20K. Then later, when they came out with the V8, they came out with a stripped-out version for some markets that was called V8-GT. Just a way to increase sales.

The Vantage GT looks very appealing to me. Compared to my 07, there really isn't anything "stripped-out" about it. I like the fact that I can still option it out with things like Premium Audio, glass switches, and cruise control and that it already comes standard with backup camera, nav, carbon edition clear taillights, V12V side sills, etc. I'm currently talking to my dealer about whether it's time to upgrade.

 

It's definitely a good time to sell before the used market gets hit by a sledgehammer.

 

And Lotus doesn't enjoy the same exclusivity Aston does. I think this is a mistake. They may sell more cars, but the marque will lose some of its luster. Once it's gone, you can't bring it back.

 

The ONLY thing that supports the reason TO buy a regular Vantage, is that you don't have to live with the silly "rally" pain scheme. I don't know about you guys, but those paint accents are really "ricky racer". its a race car, but its not a race car...... like the GT3 Porsche, but it only has a racing badge and a little wing to show its racing heritage..... but this thing has the flamboyant, "look at me, im a race car.... kind of" color stripes.


lm very confused over the model introduction as well. Don't "regular" vantages cost $130k now? if you are going to chop 30k off the car and make it a wanna-be track car, why not strip off a lot of the interior nice-ities, like leather seats, or make them racer seats, no NAV, or fancy stereo, stripped down steering wheel, carbon fiber dash or something lighter and minimal.....light weight AC and put a splitter and wing on the back.


otherwise, as you guys are saying, you just have the same car with a funny paint job competing for dollars vs the standard work of art, the AMV8........


Now, the other thing they might be doing..... its cheap advertising. maybe the funky paint job draws attention to the Aston Martin and it only cost them $20 k per car to do this. rolling billboards if you will.

 

Making dealers unhappy. Seems this is the MO of a few British car makers. Was considering changing rockers, but now would align it with the "cheaper" Vantages

 

The V8VGT isn't a stripped-down V8V. It's a V8VS with fewer options (almost entirely cosmetic - paint, leather, stitching choices) and a new name. The lack of options streamlines production, which lowers cost. It requires no further development since it's an already-existing vehicle (in all but its name). Not needing to recoup development costs also keeps its price down.

And repositioning what is now the V8VS to the low end opens the upper end for a forced-induction AMG-powered V8V.

For the sake of example, compare these entirely fictitious numbers to those of competing cars:
V8VGT - 430 hp, 4.7L naturally-aspirated V8, 6-spd manual or 7-spd ASMII, $100-120k
V8V - 500 hp, twin-turbo AMG V8, 6-spd manual (hopefully!) or dual-clutch, $160-180k
V8VS - 600 hp, twin-turbo AMG V8, 6-spd manual (hopefully!) or dual-clutch, carbon ceramic brakes, etc, $220-240k (basically, move the V8VS up to replace the V12V).

A twin-turbo V8 weighs a lot less than an n/a V12, so there's that to consider, too. Then leave the V12 for the larger cars as a "prestige" engine. With AMG's help, there's no reason the V12 can't put out 600 hp.

If AM is offering a "low" cost vehicle in the $100k V8VGT (that of course is without options, so figure $110k+ sticker) to bolster their sales, it's not like they're trying to offer a $45k city car *cough* Cygnet *cough*. Speaking of the Cygent, AML expected to sell 4000 Cygnets per year. Over the course of 3 years, they sold a TOTAL of 150. An entry price of over $100k is still a decent differentiator to keep Aston a prestigious brand. And it isn't like the V8V isn't already selling decent volume compared to any other model in the company's history.

The V8VGT price is going to be a kick in the sack for current owners on resale/trade-in. But AML has to sell more cars, period.

I'd love for Astons to stay all-motor, but it won't happen. Even AMG is switching their own n/a motors to forced induction.