Currently reading: Aston Martin plots Mercedes powertrain for revised Valhalla
New version of Valhalla to be shown in coming months; DBX PHEV could use 700bhp AMG set-up

Aston Martin is "not in a rush" to decide which components it will take from stakeholder Mercedes-Benz but will heavily revise its Valhalla supercar with a powertrain from the German firm.

As part of a new technical partnership between the two brands, stemming from Mercedes' 20% stake in the British firm, Aston Martin has access to a range of combustion, hybrid and electric powertrains for use in its own cars. 

Speaking to investors following the announcement of Aston Martin's 2020 financial results, boss Tobias Moers said that a final decision hasn't been taken on which Mercedes platforms and drive units the firm will use. He did, however, add that "everything is a reasonable cost situation", suggesting that nothing is off-limits. 

The Valhalla mid-engined supercar remains on the cards for a launch in the second half of 2023, but Moers said that Aston Martin is "re-assessing" the model and it will now "probably have a different drivetrain" to the 2019 concept.

The Mercedes partnership presents new options for the Ferrari SF90 Stradale rival, so it will now likely go without its Aston Martin-developed hybridised V6. A new version of the concept will be shown to buyers within the next four months.

"We will have the Valhalla with us in the second half of 2023, and it's going to be an amazing car with breathtaking technology. With the transformational technology agreement with Mercedes-Benz, there are other chances for us regarding combustion engines, but we still have an electrified drivetrain," said Moers. However, he declined to give more information before customers are informed of the changes.

Customers had already begun placing orders for the Valhalla, but Aston Martin remained tight-lipped on the extent of interest.

Chief financial officer Kenneth Gregor said: "We don't provide a split of the deposit balance between vehicles, but the deposit balance at the end of the year was £269m and there was a chunk of deposits in there relating to the Valhalla."

Moers also confirmed that a plug-in hybrid Aston Martin with a "reasonable electric range" is in the works and that a DBX PHEV will arrive by 2024. An additional two upcoming derivatives of the SUV are also inbound, one of which will arrive in Q3 of 2021 and the other in Q2 of 2022.

The PHEV version of the Aston Martin DBX will likely use a variation of the high-output electrified powertrain from Mercedes-AMG's new 63e- and 73e-badged models. 

The new GT 63e 4dr Coupé and S63e will bolster the reserves of their twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 - also used in the standard DBX - with a 134bhp electric motor for a combined output of 700bhp - which represents a 158bhp boost over the non-electrified DBX, in line with Moers' affirmation that any Mercedes components must "be an excellent fit" with Aston Martin's performance values.

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If that powertrain is carried over to the DBX, it paves the way for a top-rung PHEV variant with around 800bhp, courtesy of an uprated 201bhp electric motor, as used by AMG's GT 73e and S73e. 

Aston Martin plans for 90% of its portfolio to be electrified by 2030, but it currently has no electrically assisted models in its line-up. The first to arrive will be the Valkyrie hypercar, which uses a Cosworth-developed 6.5-litre V12 mated to a Rimac-supplied electric motor for combined outputs of 1160bhp at 10,500rpm and 664lb ft at 6000rpm.

"We're making good progress. We changed a lot with the new engineering team and our approach to testing, but I'm confident we'll be at the finish line by the second half of this year," said Moers.

He added that there's market demand for "additional derivatives" of the Valkyrie but offered no further details as to what they could be. 

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Felix Page

Felix Page
Title: News and features editor

Felix is Autocar's news editor, responsible for leading the brand's agenda-shaping coverage across all facets of the global automotive industry - both in print and online.

He has interviewed the most powerful and widely respected people in motoring, covered the reveals and launches of today's most important cars, and broken some of the biggest automotive stories of the last few years. 

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Speedraser 25 February 2021

I posted this in the other article: My worst fears realized, both about Stroll and Moers. I've been an Aston fan since I was about 5 years old. I've been an owner for 12 years, having bought one new Aston and one used, and I still own both. I will NEVER buy an AMG-engined "Aston." An "Aston" with a Benz engine isn't an Aston Martin. Period. End of story. A crying shame, and the end of a great marque.

 
And it gets even worse. In this article, Moers, AMG-man that he is, now acknowledges the potential use of Mercedes platforms. "boss Tobias Moers said that a final decision hasn't been taken on which Mercedes platforms and drive units the firm will use. He did, however, add that 'everything is a reasonable cost situation', suggesting that nothing is off-limits." How very repugnant!
 
And Moers says "The Mercedes partnership presents new options for the Ferrari SF90 Stradale rival, so it will now likely go without its Aston Martin-developed hybridised V6." Absurd. The notion that a Benz-engined "Aston" is comparable to a Ferrari-a Ferrari car and Ferrari engine-is utterly preposterous.
 
Moers affirmed "that any Mercedes components must 'be an excellent fit' with Aston Martin's performance values." I'll be clear: there is no such thing.
 
This is THE END of Aston Martin. They'll be nothing but badge-engineered Benzes. It would be better that they close up with their dignity intact (mostly) having had a great run than be disgraced like this. Either make real Aston Martins or don't make them at all.
Symanski 25 February 2021

Although I was hesitant to agree with your take on the Merc V8 use entirely, simply from the resources require to develop an engine, I am now more inclined to agree with you. No matter how hard Aston try, they just sound like Mercs.

 

As for Badge engineered Benzes, sadly that is what Stroll does. He is a marketing man. Taken on product you would not buy, and putting a badge on that you would buy. No different to what he did with Chinese goods from his business partner and his Michael Kors brand. Suddently Kors has way more product than they could have created themselves.

 

Moers is the wrong person for Ason. He had one job to do - Sack Reichman - and has failed. He is just a Merc man.

 

However you look at it, Aston s problems centre around Reichman. His designs did not sell, they ended up needing rescued, and his designs still do not sell. Until they get rid of him Aston will never achieve their potential, and with Stroll and Moers I doubt they ever could.

 

 

 

 

Symanski 25 February 2021

last I heard was people getting their deposits back. Aston have been living off those deposits and doing no development on the Valhalla.

 

They were only supposed to do about 500 units of this, about a million pounds each. Already it was not as special as the Valkyrie, and now with a generic drivetrain, even less so.

 

This is going to be a difficult sell.

 

jonboy4969 25 February 2021
Symanski wrote:

last I heard was people getting their deposits back. Aston have been living off those deposits and doing no development on the Valhalla.

 

They were only supposed to do about 500 units of this, about a million pounds each. Already it was not as special as the Valkyrie, and now with a generic drivetrain, even less so.

 

This is going to be a difficult sell.

 

 

Well that shows what you know.... which in this case is not a lot

IainL 25 February 2021
Let's hope they don't select the 4-pot hybrid motor destined for the C63.