Who has bought the production line of the Aston Martin Vanquish and what do they want it for?

The report that Aston Martin had to file on the company before its recent stock market listing is the source that revealed that during last October the Gaydon brand got rid of the Vanquish production line, along with all its tooling and design material as well as the various machines used to produce the sports car that has been part of its range since 2012 until this year 2018, when the last 175 units making up the S Ultimate limited special edition of the model, both in coupé body style and in the Volante convertible, were sold.

Although Aston Martin remains the owner of the model’s name and will be able to keep marketing future generations of it, all the material that made its creation, development and production possible since 2012 was acquired for 22.5 million euros just a few months ago by a manufacturer whose identity has not yet been revealed. The rights acquired with the purchase also included 18 months of technical service and consultancy from the British brand’s engineers to get the model’s assembly line up and running.

And now, with the whole matter coming to light, everyone is trying to find out who the buyer is and what plans they have for such an investment in a model whose obsolescence is due — besides the natural evolution of its sales in the market — also in part to the great difficulties that the new environmental regulations and usage restrictions that will soon be imposed on the Vanquish present: it is cheaper to create a new car than to rework an existing vehicle to make it commercially attractive under the new propulsion technologies.

Speculation about the buyer’s identity has exploded in the sector. Brands such as Lotus, now under the umbrella of the Geely group, or the British tuners Ares Design and Mansory led the bets during the first few days, but it seems that in the end everything points to Morgan being the one that acquired the Vanquish line.

Apparently, according to the British weekly Automotive News, Morgan is reportedly working on developing a new vehicle for its range whose characteristics largely coincide with those already known for the Vanquish. Morgan wants to broaden its market and grow it, moving on from its usual three- and four-wheeled models, small in size and built with 1950s technology, to producing new series of larger vehicles, built under an extremely lightweight concept with aluminium chassis, and fitted with a front-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive.

By buying the Vanquish assembly line, Morgan acquires all the experience accumulated in producing this type of model, which will allow it to update its product range and steer it towards more sustainable and modern models than those that currently make it up.

According to Andy Palmer, chairman and CEO of Aston Martin, “the sales agreement covering everything related to the Vanquish aims to help another manufacturer develop a new model that will draw on all the Vanquish’s experience, although it will have no other connection to it. We directly rejected 80 per cent of the offers we received, but this was the one that seemed most appropriate to us,” the Aston Martin executive stated, without revealing the buyer’s identity.

Rumours about Morgan’s plans have already spread among the British automotive industry’s commentators, who say the firm would be planning a new retro-styled model that would remain faithful to the classic style of car the brand espouses. Morgan could be preparing a new flagship model, with a look and dimensions far wider than is customary for its output. And even starting from the Vanquish’s base, this new model that Morgan would theoretically develop would not reach the market until 2021. This would be a sporty model built on a completely new aluminium monocoque developed by Morgan from the Vanquish’s chassis.

The start of production of the new Morgan has not yet been announced, nor has the manufacturer confirmed anything in this regard.