I'm gonna play my "designer" card for a moment. I'm an Art Center grad, industrial design, which means I didn't specifically do automotive design but did some and spent heaps of time in the studios and reviews.
These "personae" exercises are for inspiration and direction for the design team. If it was about truly designing for Philip, they'd only sell one car. By establishing a detailed mood/style/taste/etc foundation, the design team (and it's a team, not a line wolf, Ayn Rand A hole), has a structure against which to test their development. Without some conceptual conceit, you get a Vantage and DB9 that are so subtly different to the non fanboy that you are wasting money by producing both (see also the Virage experiment).
Yeah, the Phillip and SV boy/girl and that German guy may be borderline insulting cliches, but far worse have been on the style boards in car design studios since forever. The fact that AM has made this info public is a bit strange but I wager that it will have zero negative impact on sales.

At least, that's what I think.

Meanwhile, I'm so looking forward to March.

PS: the descriptions of the coming cars make me think the current Vanquish should just be mildly redlined and called DB11. It's very much what they describe. And based on reactions since the film release, they could do worse than the next Vantage being pretty close to the DB10 (but please give it just a bit more fierce, it's pretty but it needs a touch of aggression). As for a Vulcan inspired Vanquish, I'm not thrilled. I'm still hoping for a next gen One77.

 

Business owner :-) but I still walk through muddy trenches in the rain and haul equipment in my truck and ever since I drove home in my Lambo and my neighbor said "how do you afford that, aren't you just a construction worker" I like to say I'm a construction worker since at 32 it's more believable than multi million dollar business owner lol.
Unfortunately no inheritance for me yet, just a lucky start and then lots of smart work.

 

Just drove from Phoenix AZ to central California through LA. About 900 miles. Saw the SUV's from MB, BMW, Porsche, Lexus, Accura all over the place. There's obviously a market for it. Having said that IMO the BMW had the best stance going down the road.

Could count all the Aston's I saw on one hand and still have 5 fingers left.

 

telum and ibis, why do you need make-believe customers to be able to design models that look different? Are the designers that uninspired? This idea seems as bizarre as the personas detailed in the article.

 

It helps prevent personal biases from taking over too much and forces them to consider things that might not be to their own tastes or interests.

 

I love my Aston for many reasons.. refinement, classic beautiful lines, sportiness, subdued elegance that does not scream "look at me " etc..

It is interesting to see how my car company views me, the owner> And i am truly insulted !!!! Maybe i really don't belong with this company as that cocky american is not who i am or the image i want to portray.

 

The personae have nothing to do with actual customers...

 

Seriously? So they have created a bunch of make-believe people to guide their design process, and these characters in no way resemble a real Aston Martin customer? That sounds like a shortcut to a dead end and would be a clear sign that management is completely devoid of common sense.

 

Talk about BS stereotypes! I worked in industrial mechanical construction for over 35 years and quite frankly any welder, sanitary grade welder, pipefitter or millwright worth their salt will earn the hourly rate and be working the long hours to be able to afford one, if they want it.

 

Errrrrrr, I'm a techy.... Actually work with Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley types.... sooooooo.....

 

where's the hairdresser?

 

rofl, they need to make the cars lighter before they can attract hair dressers lol

 

ditto whoops I moved to Texas though.

 

That cocky profile totally fits pple like Elon Musk and Evan Spiegel type tho the latter is from Silicon Beach. And the female profile more like Marissa Mayer.

 

Might be interesting thread to start as to what real owners do for a living.