You’ll find quite a few Aston Martin’s rolling around Cape Town, and if the company gets its way, a lot of them will be driven by wealthy women in the near future.

This year hasn’t been a good one for the luxury carmaker. Share prices have dropped by 75% over the last few months, and a further 2% on Wednesday.

Its efforts to solve the problem have included really driving home the point that they supply cars for James Bond.

It’s also recently released its first SUV, the DBX, which it hopes will diversify its customer base.

Here’s The Guardian:

The new car, which has a top speed of 181mph and goes from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, will emit more than three times as much carbon dioxide as a Ford Fiesta. The DBX travels 19.7 miles per gallon of petrol, compared with an average of 51.7mpg for new cars in the UK.

So it’s not the most environmentally friendly model on the market, or the most fuel-efficient.

“Each button and dial has been carefully positioned following extensive testing from external counsel, including the brand’s female advisory board and multiple customer clinics with HNWIs [high net worth individuals] of mixed demographic, ensuring the cabin develops a feeling of instant familiarity,” the company said.

Here’s where the messaging shifts:

A spokesman added: “We do intend to make this car much more female-friendly. Until now our customer base has been predominantly male. Except for China where it is 50-50. We want to broaden that out.

We’re not talking about making cars only for women, but rather to make our cars more practical for women and families, as well as men.”

As is often the case when a company that has appealed predominantly to men strives to become more “female-friendly”, things get a little strange.

Carlee Hardaker, Aston Martin’s senior manager of global customer and market intelligence, said the following:

“It might be that their husband, boyfriend, or son, comes home and says, ‘I’m going to buy myself a supercar’ or’ ‘I’m going to buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini.’

And the woman says, ‘No, you’re not, it looks like you’re having a mid-life crisis, but you can have an Aston’.”

We need a minute to process all of the stereotypes in that statement.

While we do that, here’s the SUV in action, complete with graphics that don’t exactly scream ‘family car’:

If you’re keen to avoid looking like you’re in the midst of a mid-life crisis, but still want to drive a luxury vehicle (or if you’re a wealthy woman – emphasis on wealthy), you can expect to pay roughly £158 000 (just over R3 million) for the DBX model.

If you’re female and you’d like to drive an Aston Martin AM-RB 003, go for it.

You’re a strong, independent woman who can drive whatever car she likes.

[source:guardian]