Two-and-a-half years ago you would have been forgiven for thinking Aston Martin, so famously linked with James Bond, were operating under cover in the UAE and had invented invisible cars. Spotting a new Aston in Dubai or Abu Dhabi was a rarity which was remarkable for a brand that produces exclusive luxury cars which are a perfect fit for the fertile Middle East market.
Inevitably, they decided to do something about it and Neil Slade, general manager for Aston Martin Middle East and North Africa, was the man given the mission to put this famous marque back on the map in this part of the world.
He arrived just over two-and-ahalf years ago and has succeeded in giving Aston a higher profile with a superb new showroom in Downtown Dubai with a complete support package including state-of-the-art service centre and plans for a new showroom in Abu Dhabi.
The company has also been given a massive boost with a big investment from an Italian company and the announcement of a partnership with Mercedes who will provide the powertrains and electronics for future Aston Martins.
They have also announced that the Aston Martin Lagonda has been revived, exclusively for the Middle East, with the first limited edition super-saloons expected to be here in November and on sale to a privileged few early next year.
Slade, took a break from his hectic schedule, to speak to Sport360° editor Steve McKenlay about the progress Aston Martin has made in the Middle East since his arrival in Dubai and why he is excited by the future.
Q You have been in Dubai for two-and-a-half years now and I know Aston Martin decided to go in-house, dealing directly with the customers rather than use a third party. Has that approach worked?
A Yes, definitely. The Dubai showroom opened which is all in-house, the service centre is fully open and functional and so we have put our money where our mouth is and sales in Dubai in the first year exceeded expectations with almost 100 units sold, which is fantastic.
We expect to do pretty much the same again this year. It takes time to get into the market and take a firm footing and there is still a lot of work to do but there is no question that coming to Dubai and the UAE was the right thing to do.
Is there a particular model selling more than the others?
Funnily enough in the UAE it is pretty even across the board. Certainly the Vantage range has done well because it is the entry product. We have a large expat community here and this car tends to be their first step into an Aston.
The Vanquish also proved to be very popular and the Rapide has done well, so these three models have proved particularly successful in the UAE. The DB9 is a fantastic product but is not perceived to be as new as the Vanquish and certainly not as an entry product so, because of that, it suffers a little bit.
Is there any change in that trend if you look at the Middle East as a whole?
Yes, it is quite interesting.
If you look at Qatar, for example, it is a 99 per cent Vanquish market. That’s all they are interested in.
Go to Saudi Arabia and the Rapide is very popular, so that has been a bit of an eye opener. It is also interesting to see how they spec the cars. Saudi tends to be conservative while in Dubai and Qatar they take a more out-of-the-box approach with different colours and our Q-Division which looks after the bespoke options can hardly keep up with the different requests.
If I showed you some pictures from Qatar you would be amazed by some of these cars. I think we did one the other day in Qatar in baby pink with a pure white interior, from the seats, the carpet, the steering wheel…everything.
What percentage of your customers is made up of women?
In Kuwait almost 50 per cent of our buyers are women. It’s lower here in the UAE where it is more like 15 to 20 per cent and that is something we need to address.
We are a lifestyle car, not just all about power. We are about beauty and soul so this is an area of the market we need to focus more on and I think other brands are realising that as well. A recent Arab Luxury Conference here was interesting from a female perspective. It was clear that they feel they are not getting enough attention as to what they want so we need to do more.
What is the typical profile of the male customer and what is the split between expat and Emirati?
Here is about 70 per cent expat and 30 per cent Emirati. I think that has something to do with the fact we are just in Dubai but we do have plans to move into Abu Dhabi. We would hope to achieve this within the next 12 to 24 months.
What, in your view, has been the biggest challenge you have faced over the past couple of years?
Probably getting brand awareness. For sure, we have got James Bond and everything else but we hadn’t really been in the market here for three years before I came and we had lost a lot of momentum, so it takes time to build up the trust.
People want to know if they buy a car who is going to look after it so it has taken time for them to realise it’s not just about buying the car, that they have got a full support package.
We also had to be proactive and ensure that people knew what the new products were and that they were here in the Middle East and I think we have met those challenges.
GALLERY – Aston Martin Lagonda being tested in Oman
Aston Martin has just signed a partnership deal for the use of Mercedes AMG engines. How is that going to work and is there any truth in the rumour that this is the first step in what could lead to Mercedes taking over Aston Martin?
In the last 12 months there have been exciting developments with the key turning in the investment for the next cycle of products. The Italians, Investindustrial, came in with £150m which allowed us to unlock and go ahead with a £500m investment which will deliver the new products, starting in 2016. The new products that are going to come are going to be ‘wow’, spectacular and very, very different.
We have got the advantage that with Mercedes coming on board they are going to deliver not just the powertrain technology, and it is all the powertrain, but electronics. So this brings a whole new dimension to the car. It allows us as a small boutique company to really access into a huge multi conglomerate and it’s the only way we can do it cost effectively. For me, seeing the design of the new cars coming with the technology, it is going to be almost an unbeatable product so the future is really exciting.
Our engineers have been collaborating with Mercedes for the last few months and there are no issues expected there. In terms of Mercedes doing more or taking over the company only Mercedes will know that. They have taken their five per cent in Aston Martin in exchange for the technology.
They have publicly said they are happy with that and are not looking for anything more. Everyone can speculate and when you look at our competitors they are all part of a big group so will that happen to Aston? I don’t know. At the moment, whether it happens or not, it’s not interfering with our flexibility. We are able to deliver anything and in a short space of time. If you look at the last 24 months from finishing the One-77 supercar, the CC100 last year, to the Zagato, the new Vanquish, the new Rapide S, the Vanquish Volante and the V12 Vantage S, a lot has happened without having a big brother, so to speak.
This is now culminating, here in the Middle East, with the announcement of the Lagonda. This is not something all companies have the facilities and engineering capability to do so we are feeling in a pretty comfortable place. Now we have financial muscle the future is really positive. In the Middle East the focus is on the Lagonda Super Saloon and it will hit the streets here in January or February. The final part of the testing is taking place in Oman and we will have the first car physically on the ground here in November. This is our main focus because it is something the customer base here asked for.
Does this mean that the Lagonda SUV which appeared as a concept back in 2009 will become a reality?
We brought back the Lagonda brand so immediately this had led to speculation about the SUV. Yes, I think it has given us the platform to start looking at more of these bespoke type products.
The SUV plan is still on the table. The focus has been on the new investors but I believe this is something that will be seriously coming to the top of the pile.
