Aston Martin’s new SUV is actually extremely good: The 2021 DBX review

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  This is the $176,900 2021 Aston Martin DBX, the first ever crossover from the storied British brand. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

There's no escaping the crossover, even in the poshest of neighborhoods. Everyone knows that the Cayenne saved Porsche, particularly in new markets like China, and that's why we now have six-figure SUVs like the Rolls Royce Cullinan, Lamborghini Urus, Bentley Bentayga, and now Aston Martin's $176,900 DBX.

Last year was a hectic one for Aston Martin, and that's saying something for a company with as many ups and downs as its had during its 108-year history. Lawrence Stroll, Canadian billionaire (and dad to F1's Lance) bought a 16.7-percent stake as part of a $656 million cash infusion. Stroll is also behind Aston Martin's return to F1 as a constructor, with the British marque rebranding the team most recently known as Racing Point and hiring four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel to drive alongside

CEO Andy Palmer—who led the development of the Nissan Leaf earlier in his career—was replaced by Tobias Moers, formerly boss of Mercedes-AMG at Daimler. That strengthens ties with the German giant that supplies the low-volume British firm with powerful V8 engines and 21st-century infotainment tech. There's a brand-new factory, just completed on the site of an old RAF maintenance base at St Athan, Wales. And it's from here that the brand is diversifying its lineup with what it describes as it's "first full-size five-seater." (Which tells you everything you need to know about the rear seat experience in the now-retired Aston Martin Rapide, I suppose.)