Aston Martin could have sold six-times as many Valkyries

Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer has revealed he seriously underestimated international demand for the new $4.5 million Valkyrie, claiming the British car-maker could have sold 900 examples instead of the 150 it plans to make.

In an interview with carsales, Palmer admitted to challenges in working out the real demand for the most extreme Aston Martin ever, and what's shaping up to be the fastest hypercar of all time.

"When we started discussing Valkyrie volumes we thought we might do 24 or 59. Then we said, OK, maybe we'll sell 100, well let's try for 150..."

In the end, following its unveiling as the AM RB 001 concept back in 2016, it began to dawn on Palmer that Aston Martin had seriously underestimated the voracious appetite for what would become the Valkyrie.

"It's then I realised I could have sold that car five or six times over and you kick yourself,” Palmer said.

"And it is really painful, sometimes and one of the things I keep promising myself is that we say we're going to do 150 and we don't do 151 – I think it's really important that when you make a promise, you keep it.

"When people are writing a big check you have to live up to it."

Against the tide of strong demand among Aston's new clientele attracted to the Valkyrie, Palmer said he didn't expect to do "lots and lots of derivatives", leaving the door ajar for a potential targa or spider version but little else.

Instead, the Aston boss said the journey to the Valkyrie's creation has been more important to his team than the potential lost revenue of not making an additional 750 examples.

"Every turnaround plan needs a flag to rally around and to a large extent the Valkyrie was has been that flag.

"People at Aston were always good. I inherited a good bunch but they had their tails between their legs and they were behaving like lost souls. I needed to give the company something to get its swagger back.”

As well as galvanising and rebuilding morale, the Valkyrie has also brought new owners to the brand with less than 50 per cent of Valkyrie owners identified as traditional Aston Martin owners. That has posed new problems for Palmer and his team in ensuring how the new owners will remain loyal to the brand.

"A lot of pre-qualification went into selecting the owners, and yes, that sounds arrogant but we chose them,” he said, confirming that six out of the total 150 cars were bound for Oz.

"Hopefully we picked the right people and if we didn't the contract should protect us as you can't flip the Valkyrie for a year.”