"It usually takes a few attempts for people to really step on the brake, but once they do, they can see just how good it is," instructor Kevin Markham said.
While the day-long Performance Driving Course has run for four years in Michigan for Aston Martin owners, the Warwickshire, England- based company, opened the course to non-owners last month as way to promote the brand. Additionally, the carmaker has hired a performance driving administrator to assist people attending the course. It currently has booked 20 people a month for it. The company also is looking for a more southern location for the course during the winter months.
Since being sold by Ford Motor Co. last year, the company has aggressively pursued ways to grow and the performance driving program can help its customers as well as serve as a strong marketing tool.
The $2,500 program, which doesn't include transportation to the Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo or lodging, will leave students exhausted and smiling. Aston Martin uses the track on a part-time basis.
DB9 owner Ian Green said the course changed the way he drives on the open road and helped him appreciate his car's abilities even more.
"I'm looking at curves differently," he said from his Connecticut home. "I wish the course was longer. By the end of the day, I was just getting the hang of things and doing the hill course at 110 mph."
Unlike other driving programs offered by carmakers, Aston Martin provides one-on-one day-long instruction with world-class drivers. The three instructors on the Aston Martin team in Michigan are some of the best wheelmen in the Mitten and have clocked thousands of hours on the Ford test track. Aston Martin also offers the program at tracks in Bedfordshire, England and Limburg, Belgium.
"These cars are incredible, what you can do in them," Markham said. "But you can't really experience it if you're stuck on regular roads."
Aston Martin spokeswoman Francesca Smith said the program also provides an outlet for the carmaker to showcase its vehicles.
"If someone wants to drive the V-8 Vantage, we'll let them," she said. "And if they want to bring a friend, they're welcome to do so."
It may also help build Aston Martin's reputation, as the company aggressively pursues well-heeled customers willing to pay up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a car, said Bonnie Knutson, Michigan State University professor in the school of hospitality business in Lansing.
"The biggest benefit is twofold," she said. "No. 1, everyone is talking about it. Other people who have not considered an Aston Martin, now, they're thinking about it."
And they're listening to their friends talk about the Aston Martin.
"They're letting the participants in the program be ambassadors," Knutson said.
Green agreed wholeheartedly. At a recent Yom Kipper dinner after completing the program, he said he regaled all of his friends with the course highlights.
"That's all we talked about all night," he said.
sburgess@detnews.com (313) 223-3217
No comments:
Post a Comment