Aston Martin Valhalla, powered by Mercedes?

We have only just learned about the Aston Martin Valhalla that was introduced back in 2019 already at the Geneva Motor Show, will be postponed to 2023, that’s a four year development, but that’s apparently not the worst for all those people that have signed up to buy one of these hypercars from the Gaydon carmaker.

Things might not be looking too bright for the bespoke built V6 hybrid engine that was developed to power the new Aston Martin Valhalla, and that showed similarities with the unit we’ve just seen in the new McLaren Arturo. This 3.0-Liter V6 engine would have been completely developed in-house by Aston Martin, a first since their 5.3-Liter V8 engine back in 1969, and with the addition of hybridization this engine would become the most powerful ever in an Aston Martin, which means it would have become more powerful than the 1,160 hp engine in the Valkyrie.

But 2020 has been a disastrous year for Aston Martin, losses quadrupled due to the COVID pandemic and dropping sales figures, and while they hope their DBX will continue to gather sales, for the Aston Martin Valhalla this meant a return to the drawing board, and a one-year postponement on deliveries of the 150 units limited production run.

Tobias Moers, Aston Martin’s current CEO, confirmed they have an agreement in place with Mercedes-Benz to supply the engine for their Valhalla, it will still be a hybrid model, as Aston Martin plans to have a 90% electric line up by 2030, but the in-house V6 engine that sounded so amazing back in March of 2020 will be shelved and in comes, probably, an AMG unit.

And here comes the catch … which engine will Aston Martin use, as Moers stated “everything is a reasonable cost situation” during an interview, so will they go with the massive V8, 4.0-Liter twin turbo hybrid that will be introduced in the upcoming AMG 73 models, rated at 800 hp or more … or will they go for the much smaller M139 four-cylinder engine that will power the new AMG C63 with hybrid addition putting down about 500 hp?

Mercedes actually owns 20 percent of Aston Martin thanks to a recent technical partnership between the two, and part of that deal included using a German sourced engine for the new Valhalla, and, to be honest, with a price tag of $3,000,000 for each of these Aston Martin Valhalla … as a customer I wouldn’t be too happy with a four-cylinder engine, even if they manage 600 or 700 hp … that’s still a far cry from the ‘more than 1,160 hp’ they mentioned before.