The Aston Martin CUV Won’t Be Diesel, Might Get Mercedes Inline Six

"Never, ever, ever, ever, never, ever, ever. Never. Never! No diesels," stated Reichmann in an interview with Motoring published Monday. Reichmann was open to the possibility of the vehicle deriving its power from a Mercedes-Benz inline six, such as the 3.0 liter, electrically twincharged unit seen in the 2019 E 53 AMG.

"It could [use a Mercedes-sourced six-cylinder], because that would be a pretty good engine and combination. Potentially," Reichmann emphasized.

Aston Martin already buys 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8s from Mercedes-AMG to power its Vantage and DB11, and the 4.0 is slated to be one of the crossover's engine options at launch, alongside Aston's in-house 5.2-liter, twin-turbo V12. An expansion to its engine purchasing program could be Aston Martin's easiest way to attain an entry level powertrain for the crossover by launch in 2019.

Aston Martin's crossover does not yet have a confirmed name; the monikers DBX and Varekai have been attached. It is not known for sure that the Varekai name will apply to the Aston crossover, rather than that of its recently-launched Lagonda electric vehicle subsidiary, which will begin production of its own electric crossover in 2019.

The Drive reached out to Aston Martin for further information on the likelihood of AMG's 3.0-liter six-pot appearing in the crossover as well as whether the Lagonda and Aston products will use the same platform for their respective crossovers, though the company declined to comment.