RAY MASSEY: Aston Martin has the female factor

Women are firmly in the driving seat of Aston Martin’s new 181mph DBX family SUV — which I suspect will be on the Christmas and New Year wish lists of many female motorists.

But at £158,000 and above, this five-door, five-seat, all-wheel-drive beauty designed with input from Aston’s female advisory board will remain a dream for many.

Ticking all the boxes: Aston Martin’s DBX SUV is a five-door, five-seat, all-wheel-drive beauty designed with input from Aston’s female advisory board

It also helps that Laura Schwab, Aston’s first female president of the Americas and one of the world’s leading female motor industry executives, oversees one of the British firm’s biggest and most important markets, so is acutely aware of what women really want.

Aston Martin describes the DBX as ‘an SUV with the soul of a sports car’. 

Potential customers, including their children, of all shapes and sizes tried out the seats to ensure maximum all-round comfort. Female-friendly features include:

The cabin is as plush as you'd expect from an Aston Martin, with swathes of the finest leather, chrome and other materials

The cabin is as plush as you’d expect from an Aston Martin, with swathes of the finest leather, chrome and other materials

  • Each key can recognise your driving set-up, adjusting the seating and steering wheel positions. 
  • The rear of the car can be lowered by 50mm for easier loading and unloading and there’s a power tailgate. 
  • For ease of entry and exit, the redesigned door surround ensures clothes remain clean on entry and exit in front and rear as they won’t brush up against a mucky rim. 
  • A handbag slot in the middle of the car sits away from smash-and-grab thieves.
Laura Schwab is Aston's first female president of the Americas

Laura Schwab is Aston’s first female president of the Americas

Built at Aston’s new factory at St Athan in Wales, bosses hope the DBX will become its biggest seller and a huge export earner, with around 5,000 sales a year by 2021.

Propelled by a powerful 4-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine developing 550hp linked to a nine-speed automatic gearbox, it accelerates from rest to 62 mph in 4.5 seconds up to a top speed of 181 mph. It has six driving modes, including two for off-road, and a wading depth of 500 mm.

But riding on vast 22in alloy wheels, it manages only a miserly average 19.73mpg and has CO2 emissions of 325g/km.

An Aston Martin spokesman said: ‘We’re not talking about making cars only for women, but rather making our cars more practical for women and families, as well as men.’

The motor, producing a massive 550hp, is the most potent eight-cylinder Aston Martin has featured in one of its roads cars

The motor, producing a massive 550hp, is the most potent eight-cylinder Aston Martin has featured in one of its roads cars

Big promises: Aston Martin has made some bold claims about the 2.25-tonne SUV, saying it will corner and stop as hard as its range-topping GT sportscars

Big promises: Aston Martin has made some bold claims about the 2.25-tonne SUV, saying it will corner and stop as hard as its range-topping GT sportscars 

Audi’s monster SUV blitzes the Nurburg-ring

I’ve had a double dose of Fast And Furious from Audi.

At the recent Los Angeles Motor Show, I had a good alfresco inspection of Audi’s new 190 mph £120,000 RS Q8 SUV on a heavenly hilltop Elysian Park overlooking the city. 

Fastest SUV of them all:Audi RS Q8 is the firm’s most powerful and fastest sports utility vehicle, accelerating from rest to 62mph in just 3.8 seconds and to 124.3 mph in 13.7 seconds

Fastest SUV of them all:Audi RS Q8 is the firm’s most powerful and fastest sports utility vehicle, accelerating from rest to 62mph in just 3.8 seconds and to 124.3 mph in 13.7 seconds

Off-road performance is helped by variable ground clearance, short overhangs, permanent all-wheel drive and hill descent control - not that many owners will take it off the beaten track

Off-road performance is helped by variable ground clearance, short overhangs, permanent all-wheel drive and hill descent control – not that many owners will take it off the beaten track

Paying a premium: £120,000 price tag is a considerable mark-up of around £40,000 on the standard Q8

Paying a premium: £120,000 price tag is a considerable mark-up of around £40,000 on the standard Q8

Powered by a massive 600 hp 4-litre biturbo V8 engine, it accelerates from rest to 62 mph in just 3.8 seconds and has broken the SUV record for a lap around the infamous German Nurburg-ring in just 7 minutes 42.2 seconds.

The LA location overlooks Dodger baseball stadium in whose car park one of the opening scenes of the cult film Fast And Furious was shot. 

That led to an unplanned mini-pilgrimage to nearby Echo Park, on-screen home of one of the film’s main characters, Dom Toretto, as played by actor Vin Diesel. 

New Renault Clio named Carbuyer’s Car of the Year 

Renault’s new fifth-generation Clio, with its upmarket interior and a new five-year warranty, has been named Car of the Year by leading motoring website Carbuyer.

Its editor-at-large James Batchelor praised the ‘fun nature’ of the model, priced from £14,295, adding: ‘It’s modern, laden with the latest tech and has an interior that punches above its weight, with style and space you wouldn’t expect.’

  • France’s rapidly expanding Peugeot-Citroen PSA Group, which owns Vauxhall and Germany’s Opel, has just concluded a merger with Fiat Chrysler to create the world’s fourth-largest car company. It brings Fiat, Jeep, Chrysler, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, among others, under its wing and gives it access to the U.S. market. PSA chief and keen rally driver Carlos Tavares will become the CEO of the merged giant.
The boss: PSA chief and keen rally driver Carlos Tavares will become the CEO of the newly merged car giant

The boss: PSA chief and keen rally driver Carlos Tavares will become the CEO of the newly merged car giant 

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