Aston Martin and Mercedes Looking to Collaborate?
Sharing Engines and Parts
By Raghuram Supramanium
February 11, 2008 9:29 AM
Filed Under: Aston Martin, Corporate/Financial, European, Mercedes-Benz
Recent spy photos of the Aston Martin Rapide have stirred back up the attention on the newly-independent automaker, proving that its current owner is indeed trying to rebuild the British marque with plenty of good models to come. Nevertheless, such a small company cannot do much alone. For this reason Aston is said to be eyeing to collaborate with Mercedes.
Autocar reports that Aston and Mercedes could collaborate on various technologies, from sharing engines to producing all new models. Manufacturing parts such engines, climate control units, and electrical architectures individually would be costly, which is why a deal with Mercedes for this purpose would be just right.
We know that Aston engines at this time still comes from its former parent Ford, and borrowing engines from Mercedes in the near future doesn’t sound so bad after all. It is hence quite interesting to see this legendary brand evolving independently through various ventures like this.
Autocar reports that Aston and Mercedes could collaborate on various technologies, from sharing engines to producing all new models. Manufacturing parts such engines, climate control units, and electrical architectures individually would be costly, which is why a deal with Mercedes for this purpose would be just right.
We know that Aston engines at this time still comes from its former parent Ford, and borrowing engines from Mercedes in the near future doesn’t sound so bad after all. It is hence quite interesting to see this legendary brand evolving independently through various ventures like this.
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Comments
wow!! thats cool news!! but,on the other hand, there will be no more true, original British auto marquees being owned by the Brits themselves, this small collaboration might in future become a merger n then a total takeover by the German giant!! em.. it neednt happen at all too!!!
They were owned by ford before along with Jag. I perfer Benz to own aston than ford!!!!
thats not a cool news at all!! ... the benz sucks in designing and everything except technology
Gosh, I hope Merc dont ruin AM's designs like how they ruined their own designs. Imagine the new SL's headlights on a DB9...YUK!
I think AM would be better teaming with Audi since they have similar design cues....subtle yet elegant.
there was never any mention of sharing design cues. just electronics and mechanicals. sl may have ugly headlights but its one hell of a car under the skin, a lot better than the DB9
Well, its an interesting prospect since i like both those cars, but i agree with the other guy, i really dont want to see the Aston Martin styling disappear coz of this venture.
Also i want AM to keep its good looks and also its AWESOME engine tone :D
Astons whole appeal is that design. I do not think Benz will harm it. The only thing i can think of is Benz helping the design in the aerodynamic area (more money given to aston for wind tunnel testing)
WOOW,,GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT FOR BOTH KINGS
They are not uniting for the sake of "design"!!! cant you people read!!! Its only a mechanical, technical interest.. I would be a good thing, specially for aston.. Refresh thier engines as well as thier technology..
Merc. is by far better than ford!!! I strongly believe that AM will solve its only challenge which is reliability (since it applies ford derivatives under it's skin) and would feel that such collaboration would only be limited to the tech. aspects...
I am not looking forward to this! Astons are really pretty cars! Mercedes is going to ruin that! And as for parts, I hope Aston DOES NOT use any MB parts!! oh god please no!!!
I think that the prospect of sharing engines would be incredible for Aston considering the V12 Merc has in some of the AMG models (remember that Pagani uses a modified version in its cars). It's been reviewed as one of the best engines in the world, but Merc happens to drop it into very heavy models. Hopefully Aston could put it to better use :D
WORST NEWS EVER, Mercedes engine SUCKS since long time, also have a lot of electric problems, even more mercedes stil use 3 valves x cilinder in some engine, what the hell is that, toyota got 5 valve in 80s..if all of you think its a good deal y dont think a engine whit a lot of leack is good, sorry
There engines have so much output that if they put 4 valves per cylinder the car would have 600-700 horsepower and would drink gas even more than it does. Mercedes has trouble getting its power to the ground because of all the tourque. So they detune there engines to make it driveable. Plus the engine is smaller and is less weight. Mercedes spend over 1 million dollars a day doing research and development. This is a good move to get some technology in the car. Ford has held back Jaguar and Austin in the technology area. This is a good thing so that the Austin can now compete. Do not think Mercedes is not smart. I my mechanic was working on a performance C class and the V6 had 12 spark plugs to get the most performance out of it. Mercedes will give it the tools they need to stay alive. This is a good move.
Actually Merc engines are in fact among the best, not only do they perform incredibly well, they're also some of the most effective in cleanly and efficiently burning fuel lessening environmental impact. I'm talking about the engines in the S-Class range for example.
noooo, please no! However, Mercedes has a good engines, but a rest is....no, no
This what Invesment Dar, the new owner of aston had in mind, now i think i know why the bought it.
AM and MB? What does that make it? Austin Benz? or Mercedes Martin? AM....please fix Benz's designs.
uniting the BENZ and MARTIN will ruin the AM ... it can't be because is good in technology ... thats it
Astons currently have some pretty horrible engines, performance to reliability/economy ratio wise. They have horrible fuel economy for a measly 380-510hp. Mercedes could bring Aston Martin into the new century with their engine line up. We will never see the 7.3L V12 in an Aston, but the mercedes benz engine bin has some other great engines. 6.2 V8 and 6L V12 would suit the Aston lineup quite well with the 6.2L V8 being lighter and having over 100hp more than the 4.3 it currently has.
I dont think a 6L or up is the answer. Merc can get much more hp from smaller engines that are lighter. I think Aston will force benz to make a performance 5L. Astons are performance cars like Ferarri. A merc is a heavy car. So they just throw a big engine in it and slap on a supercharger on it and call it a day. Mercs are big cars and can take the big engines. Aston wants to be as light as possible, so throwing in a big engine will offset the center of gravity and I dont think aston will let them do that. Aston will force Merc to make them a smaller engine with 4-500 hp. I dont think aston will become viper, because aston will always be about precision.
The 6.2L V8 weighs 199kg fully dressed and with fluids. Its not very big and heavy. That's where mercedes RD comes in handy, fancy materials.
what technical interests? it clearly says "Autocar reports that Aston and Mercedes could collaborate on various technologies, from sharing engines to producing all new models" ..and yes, as _M7_ said, worst news ever. i would agree aston built cars with MB money, nothing more. no engine, no design, no nothing.
i think bmw would be a better fit for aston martin because bmw lacks an ultra luxury sports car in their line up the only one is the 6 series and even then the aston is a higher class bmw has a great basis for their v8-12s benz already has the sl/cl 63/65 amg based roadster/coupes and also they have newly acquired (2003) rolls royce, a great platform for ultra luxury (benz has maybach, but not the same legacy)
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