Currently reading: Autocar confidential: Fisker's pre-order prosperity, Aston Martin's sales goals and more

Our reporters empty their notebooks to round up a week in gossip from across the automotive industry

In this week's round-up of industry gossip, Fisker reveals pre-order statistics for its Ocean electric SUV, Peugeot discusses the electrification of its range and Lawrence Stroll shares his bold predictions for Aston Martin sales.

Ocean rising

Fisker has received 11,000 pre-orders worldwide for its Ocean electric SUV, the firm’s boss, Henrik Fisker, told Autocar. The UK is the third-largest market for it behind Denmark and Norway, and Fisker said allocations are sold out ahead of the car’s (and brand’s) launch in late 2022. “If you order a car now, you won’t get it until the first half of 2023, and if you order later this year, you’re looking at the second half of 2023 or 2024,” he said.

Last gasp for Peugeot ICEs

The current 208 and Peugeot 2008 will be the last B-segment cars Peugeot offers with petrol or diesel engines. In their next generations, likely in 2026, they will be offered as EVs only, (now former) boss Jean-Philippe Imparato said. Already more than one in five of these models are sold as EVs, a figure that’s growing on a monthly basis.

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High targets

Chairman Lawrence Stroll believes Aston Martin can sell about 10,000 cars a year once its model range is complete. Half of those are expected to be from the DBX and its SUV derivatives (“There will be various variants in the future,” he said), alongside around 3000-4000 front-engined models and about 1000-1500 mid-engined cars. The company’s sales in the UK halved during 2020, SMMT figures show, but its performance in other markets has been stronger.

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READ MORE

Fisker previews “radical” electric pick-up to rival Tesla Cybertruck 

Fisker to enter UK market in 2023 with Ocean electric SUV 

New Fisker Ocean electric SUV revealed with 300-mile range

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