British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin has given the go-ahead for its first 4x4, which is expected to rival the forthcoming crossover vehicle announced by Lotus earlier this week.
Both cars are expected to find a huge market in China, where the appetite for 4x4s and small family cars is growing swiftly. Sales of cars in the segment recently topped three million a year, AutoCar reports.
To fund production of the new DBX model, Aston Martin raised £200m in investment from private equity firms which it will put towards a range of "significant new luxury models".
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Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said: "This additional long-term funding will enable us to add extra model lines and broaden our presence in the luxury market segment by the end of the decade."
He added: "The DBX concept, has generated interest far beyond our expectations. The additional investment announced today will allow us to realise the DBX and other new luxury vehicles that will form the strongest and most diverse portfolio in our history."
The DBX was first shown off at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. At the launch, Palmer told AutoCar that the company now aims to produce three different types of cars: sports, luxury and SUVs.
"The DBX is the third pillar, which is the reinvention of the sports car. Each of those cars has a clear customer in front of it," he told the motoring magazine.
Aston Martin has also offered a sneak peek of the new DB10 concept car in newly released behind-the-scenes footage from the next James Bond film, Spectre.
The DB10 is a prototype that was developed by Aston Martin in conjunction with the James Bond film's director Sam Mendes, Business Insider reports.
"It's never been done like this before," Aston Martin chief creative officer Marek Reichman said. "For a movie character to have a major manufacturer create a car just for him is really quite special."
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