Aston Martin has always been known as an elite super car. You need a substantial amount of money in order to own such a magnificent piece of technology. The cars are beautifully crafted, displaying the results of an impeccably perfect union between man and machine. However, the price tag is inflated by the name. Much like Gucci, Aston Martin can and will charge such amounts for their cars because that price helps keep up their high class image. Although, unlike Gucci, Aston Martin’s cars do require a lot of specific parts and detailed labour, thus they cost a lot to make. Recently, Aston Martin created an “ultimate” Aston Martin: the One-77. This car had no limits when being created. The best technology and materials were used. It has a 750 horsepower, 7.3 litre twin V12 engine producing high velocities approximating at 0 to 60mph in 2.5 seconds. Aston Martin is only making 77 of these cars, creating an excess demand for these masterpieces, thus also inflating the value these automobiles have on the consumers. These cars are valued at 2 million Euros. The target market is consequentially high class, wealthy people; people who wish to be part of the elite.
These cars are entering a mature market; they are in a stage where high end car companies are trying to compete with each other, and are therefore creating their cars to look so similar that at times, the only aesthetical thing differentiating them is the name on the hood. For example, Jaguar has recently come out with a new car, the XKR. This car looks errily similar to Aston Martin cars; Jaguar has used similar lighting designs and similar structures of the rear, however, the most obvious difference I see is with the price: the Aston Martin is on average $20,000 more than that particular model of Jaguar. I have also noticed this trend with Lotus’ new car Evora, which looks very similar to Porsche. This trend indicates that the top luxury car companies are all competing for the top spot in the market. At the moment, it seems as if cars like Aston Martin would have the upper hand, simply because they were the first ones to create the desired model design.
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