JEDDAH, 28 February 2005 — At an appropriately discreet ceremony at the Haji Alireza premises in Jeddah, the long awaited DB9 and the second generation Vanquish S were unveiled yesterday. The all new DB9, the most thoroughly tested and researched Aston Martin ever, extends the famous DB marque while the Vanquish S becomes the fastest ever road going Aston. Both cars, built a special heat and dust Middle East specification, are part of the 70 DB9 and 30 Vanquish S models allocated for the Middle East market. Last year, Aston Martin built only 2,200 cars across their entire range. Thomas Kastgen, CEO for Aston Martin Middle East said that production of the range will increase in 2005 to 300 cars and peak at 6,000 after that. “We will not produce more than that,” he told the invited audience, “because the exclusivity would be compromised.” There were only 12 Aston Martins sold in Saudi Arabia in 2004. Ali Alireza, chairman of Haji Alireza Autos said the apparently low number was deceptive. “Only 500 cars were sold in the US,” he said, “where the market is 100 times bigger. Considering the relative sizes, the Saudi market for this superb machine is relatively large and 12 sales is an ambitious target for this year.”