The future will be quiet, for Vantage.

Aston Martin is facing a challenging future. The esteemed British sportscar brand has always traded on two attributes for its success: loud engines and dramatic design.

Stylists and designers will have no issue carrying the brand’s distinctive proportions and vehicle presence into the future, quietness could be a problem.

Adaptive exhaust valving and booming engine acoustics are an integral part of the Aston Martin driving and ownership experience. But those V8 and V12 engines, might not survive for much longer.

The man who is deciding to convert most of Aston Martin’s product portfolio to electric, is ironically, someone who knows the value of dramatic engine sound signatures.

Tobias Moers moved from AMG to Aston Martin, with a mission to revive the fortunes of this iconic British brand. Moers proved his acumen in the realm of high-performance car company management at AMG. But replicating that success at Aston Martin could be difficult.

Aston Martin has committed to having a fully electrified vehicle portfolio by 2030. And the changes could be coming much sooner.

For a brand that has always been defined by its large-capacity petrol engines, the risk of transiting from V8 and V12 powertrains to batteries, is enormous.

Moers has confirmed to European business media, that the next generation Vantage and DB11 will forego their V8 and V12 engines, for electric motors.

The packaging advantages of this change will see Aston Martins with superior interior room and load capacity. A much lower centre of gravity will make thebattery-powered Vantageand DB11 performance cars, more stable at high-speed.

Issues? Weight and product differentiation. Shouty cars are part of the Aston Martin DNA. Without the crackle-and-pop V8 and V12 exhaust acoustics, will customers still be drawn to Aston Martin?

Aston Martins aren’t the lightest of performance cars and the move from petrol to battery power will make them much heavier, blunting dynamic agility.

Interestingly, Aston Martin will be converting its front-engined vehicles to battery-power, but the mid-engined hypercars, will be hybrids. So, if you desire some internal combustion engine drama, there might still be an option from Aston, in the immediate future.

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