Aston Martin will give the elegant DB9 Volante its world premiere on January 4 at the 2004 Detroit Motor Show -- the sixth new car from the company in less than two and a half years.

The DB9 Volante is the latest model from Aston Martin and is also the 13th convertible from the company - joining a prestigious line-up of post-war convertibles that stretches back to the DB2 of 1950 and includes the DB4, DB5, DB6, V8 and DB7. The car will be the first convertible to be built at the newly-opened Aston Martin factory at Gaydon, near Banbury.

The DB9 Volante will be built alongside the DB9 Coupe, which was launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2003.

Both models will be hand-built at Aston Martin Gaydon with the coupe being delivered to customers in Spring 2004 and the Volante in autumn 2004. It is expected that more than 2,000 DB9 models will be sold next year, of which about half will be the Volante model. Pricing will be announced at a later date.

Dr Ulrich Bez, chief executive of Aston Martin, said: "From the outset of the DB9 programme we knew we wanted a convertible model. So the Volante has been designed, engineered and built from the outset as a convertible -- it's not a coupe with just the top taken off.

"The DB9 Volante has all of the traditional styling cues you'd expect from a convertible Aston Martin. It's very elegant and perfectly proportioned from every angle, while subtle embellishments help create a powerful-looking sports car."

Like the DB9 Coupe, power for the Volante is supplied by Aston Martin's low emissions, all-alloy, 48-valve, 6.0-litre, V12 engine. No performance figures have yet been issued by Aston Martin but the Volante will be able to achieve a 0-62mph time of under five seconds and a top speed of more than 180mph. Like the DB9 Coupe it will be offered with a six-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission.