Automotive News Canada - March 2017 - 24

* MARCH 2017

Multimatic 'obvious pick' for hypercar
Ontario company
is 'more supplier than
technical partner'
for the Aston Martin
AM-RB 001 sports car
By STEPHANIE WALLCRAFT
TORONTO

CORRESPONDENT

THE UPCOMING ASTON MARTIN
AM-RB 001 hypercar has a Canadian
connection in Multimatic, but Vice
President of Engineering Larry Holt
says his company's role is more supplier than technical partner.
The AM RB-001 made its world
auto show debut in February at the
Canadian International AutoShow in
Toronto, where Aston Martin CEO
Andy Palmer introduced Multimatic -
a long-time collaborator with the luxury marque - as a technical partner on the
car. The Ontario company is the manufacturer of the car's intricate carbon-fibre chassis and body.
"There are quite
some gymnastics
that Multimatic
have to do to deliver that car," Palmer
Larry Holt,
told Automotive News
vice presiCanada.
dent of engi"We have a long
neering at
relationship with
Multimatic.
them, in particular
with Larry Holt. We trust them, and
they trust us, and therefore they're the
obvious pick."
Holt, however, downplayed both
the term technical partner and the
Canadian angle of the project, pointing
out that the chassis will be built entirely at one of Multimatic's facilities in
the United Kingdom due to the benefit
of proximity to Aston Martin's global
headquarters in Gaydon, northwest of
London.

RED BULL RACING'S INVOLVEMENT
"This is what we would call a buildto-print job where they give us the
design and engineering drawings and
say, 'hey, can you make this for us and
give us a good price,'" Holt said.
Holt said that while Multimatic
has had a deeper role in past projects,
Aston Martin's partnership with Red
Bull Racing Formula One and its chief
technical officer Adrian Newey made
establishing such a relationship on the
AM-RB 001 redundant.
"The primary engineering source

Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer presented the AM-RB 001 concept at the Canadian International AutoShow
in Toronto on Feb. 15. ( P H O T O : S T E P H A N I E W A L L C R A F T )

for that car is Red Bull, and so they
don't really need a Multimatic as an
engineering partner," Holt said. "I
would call us more of a supplier than a
technical partner, but they like to use
that term."

BROADER PARTICIPATION
Multimatic's performance-parts
expertise goes well beyond carbon
fibre, and both Palmer and Holt left
open the possibility that Multimatic's
involvement in the project may become
broader as it evolves.
"They may well do other bits and
pieces for us as well, but in the context
of what we've announced so far, we're
doing the big chunks," Palmer said.
"The engine is with Cosworth, Ricardo

are doing the gearbox, Wipac are doing
the lights and Multimatic is doing the
body.
"I have no doubt that on other bits,
as we source them, Larry will undoubtedly involve himself."
"We've historically been a long,
long-time supplier of Red Bull Formula
One on the damper side of the business," Holt added. "Nothing has been
carved in stone, but I can't imagine
that Red Bull won't want to use us for
that side of the car as well as supplying
shock absorbers, dampers, suspension
components to the job.
"Nothing has been done from a contractual perspective, but that would be
an area that my guys are talking to Red
Bull about." - ANC

There are quite some
gymnastics that Multimatic
have to do to deliver that car.
We trust them,
and they trust us.
ANDY PALMER

Aston Martin CEO

Palmer wants to cash in on growing lux market in Canada
Head of Aston Martin
acknowleges marketing
shortcomings here
By STEPHANIE WALLCRAFT
TORONTO

Aston Martin CEO Andy
Palmer's presentation of
the AM RB-001 hypercar
at the Toronto auto show
helped raise the brand's
profile in Canada.
(PHOTO: JASON STEIN)

CORRESPONDENT

ASTON MARTIN CEO ANDY
Palmer's visit to Canada to unveil the
AM-RB 001 at the Canadian International
AutoShow was strategic in another sense:
the boom of the ultra-luxury automotive
market in Canada's major urban centres has
captured his attention.
"It's quite a bullish market, and I antic-

ipate that it will grow as a total industry,"
he said. "One of the interests of being here
is to stimulate the market and stimulate our
sales partner in Canada.
"That luxury segment will grow, at least
as far as I look at the macroeconomics. And
Aston's position within that should grow."
For his part, Kam Movassaghi, sales specialist at Toronto-based high-end automotive dealer Grand Touring Automobiles,
says that he sees Palmer's visit as important
and encouraging for lifting the profile of the
Aston Martin brand in Canada.
"It brings brand recognition,"
Movassaghi said. "I think Aston Martin
needs a lot of brand recognition in North
America. The brand is not very known.

They're very exclusive. They don't advertise; they don't do billboards.
"When you're on the front page of every
newspaper and people write about it, Andy's
visit helps for the brand to get on the map."
Palmer echoed this need for improved
awareness of the brand in the North
American market when he addressed the
attendees at the first Automotive News
Canada Congress held in conjunction with
the Toronto auto show.
Aston is "a little bit like cricket," he
said. "When you're an English guy, you
learn cricket by osmosis. For me, Aston
was a little bit like that. "We will have to go
forth and explain cricket to Americans and
explain the saliency of the brand." - ANC

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - March 2017