Aston Martin will revive its famous Lagonda brand in an attempt to broaden its range and move beyond producing sports cars only.

A consortium of Kuwait's Investment Dar and Adeem Investment and is fronted by Dave Richards, the Prodrive chairman, will display a concept Lagonda at next year's Geneva Motor Show. It plans to develop a range of cars by 2012.

There will be no guarantee that Lagonda, which began life in Middlesex, will be made in Britain. Aston Martin is working at virtually full capacity at its factory in Gaydon, Warwickshire, and has announced plans to produce its next new model - the four-door Rapide - in Austria, to be made by Magna Steyr, the contract manufacturer.

Ulrich Bez, the chief executive of Aston Martin, said: “Aston Martins are currently available in 32 countries, but we remain limited in our market penetration by the pure character of our cars - sports cars. We have now investigated and concluded that the revival of the Lagonda brand would allow us to develop cars which can have a different character than a sports car, and therefore offer a perfect synergy.”

The company hopes that it can make more headway into growing markets such as Russia, where the weather does not favour sports cars. Dr Bez said that Lagonda could more than triple Aston Martin's geographic markets, taking it into more than 100 countries.

Aston Martin said that it did know how many Lagondas would be produced nor how much investment would be pumped into the brand. Neither is it putting a price on the new car, although it is thought that it could sell for about £100,000.

The new car could be produced with a hybrid engine. Aston Martin is working on emission-cutting technologies with other car companies, but hopes that Britain will win exemptions from European emission-cutting legislation for low-volume luxury carmakers.

The Aston Martin Lagonda was last made in 1989, before being shelved under Ford's ownership.

The carmaker, which was sold by Ford 16 months ago, says that it is profitable and last year it made 7,300 vehicles, but, in common with other luxury brands, Aston Martin's sales have taken a beating in recent weeks. In July its sales in the UK fell by 44 per cent, although the company said that such a drop can be compensated for by its overseas sales.

Next year has been chosen for the concept car as it marks the 100th anniversary of Lagonda in terms of when the first car was raced. Dr Bez said that after 16 months of independence for Aston Martin it was time to think of a longer-term future.

The road from Middlesex, via Moscow

— Lagonda was founded in 1906 in Staines, Middlesex, by an American, Wilbur Gunn

— He named the business after a river near his hometown of Springfield, Ohio

— The first Lagonda was driven in a race in 1909. The following year, Gunn won the Moscow to St Petersburg trial

— Lagonda was bought by Aston Martin in 1947

— The last Aston Martin Lagonda was made in 1989

— A survey of the 50 biggest motoring flops compiled by Auto Express magazine in 2001 put the Lagonda Series 1 in twelfth place, behind the DeLorean and Austin Allegro

— In 1996, seven years after production ended, three new Lagondas were still available, having been ordered but not sold

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