What's all this about?

It's Aston Martin's show stand at the Beijing Motor Show. And it has pretty much everything the car maker builds, right now, on display. That means the new Vantage road car, the GTE racing version of the same machine and all three versions of the DB11 - the V8 Coupe, the V12 Coupe and the drop-dead gorgeous Volante.

Why so strong on the DB11s?

Because this year marks the 70th anniversary of the DB badging, brought about courtesy of former owner David Brown's initials. In 1949, the DB2 was launched, starting this great lineage.

Erm, I don't mean to be rude... but wouldn't 2019 then be the 70th anniversary?

Ah, you'd think that. But, in 1948, the first car under David Brown's tenure as boss of Aston was launched. It was called the 2-Litre Sports... until the DB2 came along. That meant that, from 1950 onwards, everyone started retrospectively referring to the 1948 car as the DB1. And now we're at 70 years of DBs.

OK, got it. Any reason that China gets such a strong Aston showing?

Yes, as it is for every car maker, China is a key battleground for success. Aston Martin's president and CEO, Dr Andy Palmer, said: "The models on display here in Beijing are a vivid demonstration of Aston Martin's unfolding 'Second Century' product strategy. With the imminent launch of the DBS Superleggera, we are on track to replace each of our existing two-door sports car models by the end of this year.

"In 2017, the Chinese market was our fastest growing region. This impressive performance reflects increasing demand for our new and special vehicles. The continued roll-out of our new model pipeline, including the company's first electric vehicle in 2019, will further improve Aston Martin's share in this key market, alongside investments we are making to strengthen brand visibility and sales performance. These investments reflect our confidence in the Aston Martin brand and the attractiveness of the Chinese market."

Matt Robinson - 25 Apr 2018