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Lawrence Stroll, the executive chairman of Aston Martin, has reiterated the luxury carmaker’s commitment to producing petrol hybrid vehicles well into the mid-2030s, defying the industry trend towards electric-only cars.
Stroll’s statement comes as a clear departure from the stance of other British heritage brands such as Jaguar, Bentley, and Rolls-Royce, all of which have announced plans to transition to fully electric models by 2030.
Despite increasing pressure to embrace electric vehicles, Aston Martin intends to continue manufacturing sports cars with internal combustion engines until legislative and regulatory mandates necessitate a change. Stroll’s remarks underscore the company’s reluctance to abandon traditional petrol engines, which have long been synonymous with high-performance V8 and V12 setups.
Aston Martin’s strategy update revealed a decision to delay the delivery of its first electric model from next year to 2027, citing what it perceives as declining demand for zero-emission vehicles. Stroll described this as a prudent decision and emphasized the company’s intent to invest more heavily in plug-in hybrids, which offer a transitional solution between internal combustion engines and full electric vehicles.
“We see plug-in hybrids as the bridge between the internal combustion engine and full electric, and we think that will play out for a while, longer than we thought, through to the mid-2030s,” stated Stroll during the strategy update.
When questioned about Aston Martin’s future stance on petrol engines, Stroll asserted, “We will continue to make them as long as we are allowed to make them.” He acknowledged that while demand for petrol engines may diminish over time, there will always be a market for them, particularly in regions where regulatory restrictions on internal combustion engines are absent.
Despite governmental initiatives to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in some regions, Aston Martin anticipates sustained demand for petrol engines globally. The company’s decision to delay the delivery of its first electric model reflects a cautious approach to navigating the evolving landscape of the automotive industry while maintaining its commitment to traditional performance-driven vehicles.
