Aston Martin Rapide Pricing in UK, U.S Announced

The Rapide has been a car that we've heard about for a long time. It was first previewed by a concept back in 2006, and at the time production was far from a certainty. Then, production was confirmed, the endless drips of information ensued and the rest is history.

The official debut with images and specifications came in September at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Now, pricing information has been released in the United States and for Aston Martin's home market, the United Kingdom.

As expected, it isn't cheap - it is an Aston Martin, after all. Some have acted surprised as if the car should be at a lower level, closer to "competitors" like the Porsche Panamera. There is no doubt the two have been compared, but it is more likely the Rapide would be cross-shopped with the Bentley Flying Spur and even the Continental GT.

In the UK pricing starts at £139,950 GBP (about $233,000 USD at current exchange rates). Like the recently--priced Mulsanne, the price in the United States comes in at a bit less than that. The Rapide comes in at $199,950, $50 below the $200,000 mark.

Deliveries will begin in spring of 2010, and it will be the first car to be hand-built at the new Aston Martin Rapide Plant (AMRP) in Graz, Austria - it is also the first Aston Martin to be built outside of the UK.  Each Rapide will take approximately 220 man hours to build and Aston expects that around 2,000 Rapides will be built in the first year, with a high proportion being new to Aston Martin.