Out of the blue Aston Martin unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show a weird new concept car called the DBX. Nobody, not even Autocar, knew this thing was in the works. Then again, Aston Martin DBX Concept is just a design study, and a pretty peculiar one at that.

This is the first concept Aston with remarkable design significance built under the new CEO Andy Palmer. So if you don’t like it, blame Palmer and his background as the guy running Nissan and his portfolio which includes cars like the Juke. Aston Martin DBX Concept, according to its designers, signals “an extension to the brand’s existing model lines in the future,” most likely with an SUV. The concept has high-ground clearance and all-wheel-drive, and it is built to be practical and comfortable for four adults. No other Aston, not even the Rapide, cares much about this stuff.

Finished in a unique Black Pearl Chromium on the outside and boasting a velvet-like Nubuck leather inside, Aston Martin DBX Concept is also a testbed for new technologies such as Drive-by-wire electric steering, toughened glass with an auto-dimming ‘smart glass’ inter-layer, and bespoke driver and passenger head-up displays, KERS system, and most importantly, electric, inboard-of-wheel, motors powered by lithium sulphur cells. These are, of course, highly experimental systems not yet ready for mass production.

Unveiling the concept, Aston Martin CEO Dr Andy Palmer said: “The DBX Concept is a challenge to the existing status quo in the high luxury GT segment. It envisages a world, perhaps a world not too far away, when luxury GT travel is not only stylish and luxurious but also more practical, more family-friendly and more environmentally responsible. I asked my team at Aston Martin to expand their thinking beyond conventions, to explore what the future of luxury GT motoring would look like in years ahead, and the DBX Concept you see before you is the result.”