Well, I've spent the weekend totally away from cars, and come back to this fresh with a few genuine questions.
It's a lot of money, I could perhaps (and may still at some point) justify a 'max on exclusivity alone, but don't see that a 'new aero' is worth that kind of dough when it's not substantially different to my series 2. The new car certainly won't outperform the s2 significantly in terms of ride, handling or power or interior as it's still the same car running basically the same engine on the same chassis with the same dash, brakes wipers, electronics etc, just a different set of body panels from all I can tell. Hell, a quick trip to DMS for a tweak of the EMS and I'll be running 370bhp too if I want it enough!
So, from the enthusiast perspective I fear for future sales. A lot of owners like me who could stretch really hard to trade up, just wont as the value add over the current car just isn't there. If it was a serious step forward in terms of specification you could make a case, but all indications are that its really not.
However, for the company I guess this is a small concern and they would expect to lose some of us as potential customers, and as far as MMC are concerned I've never bought an Aero new anyway, so I'm not really a lost customer at all!
What I do fear for is the fact that this is a serious jump in not only price bracket, but competition. 70k puts you on Aston AMv8 and Audi A8 / Porsche 911 and Jax XKR / Maserati GT money - competition the Aero has in the past been able to hold its own against in terms of performance and handling (just) while playing the individuality card.
At 130k, the same car cannot in truth hold a candle to the competition - Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911 Turbo / GT2, Ferrari California / F430 / Aston DB9 / Bentley Continental GTC are all in this price range and every one of them is superior to the Aero in every way, except in styling. Every one of them will leave an Aero for dead in a straight line and probably the corners too.
So, I guess my concern is, that at the current price point, the aero is in the same ball park as the competition, and the exclusivity and style make it a winner for some buyers.
At 130k+, the lack of ability against the competition is considerable, so you have got to be a total morgan enthusiast to justify it.
If the marketing guys have done their demographic plots and determined there is a solid market for 50 cars a year at 130k vs 100 at 70k then I'm sure the numbers add up. In the long term I think it would be a shame if there are less people like me who 'wander' into Aero ownership because the like the style and the fact that the car delivers in its class, rather than the fact that it just looks like it does and is made in Malvern.
