Ultra luxury car prices can reach $1-million, but most of the current action is in the $225,000-$250,000 range, with engines of up to 500 hp.

Up to now, Ferrari has owned the segment where the DB9 plays.

The 360 Modena (400 hp) came out in 1999 and has been very successful in this price and performance range.

Since then, a hard-core version called the 360 Challenge Stradale has come out. Other competitors include the Ford GT (not yet available in Canada) and the Porsche GT2.

In fact, at the recent Geneva auto show, more than a dozen newly developed cars selling for $200,000-plus were on display.

All are counting on a surge in sales. Bentley Motors, for instance, expects to sell 3,500 Continental GTs a year.

Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez says there is room for his company's product to succeed in this market.

"We are seeing the strongest growth of millionaires ever," he says. "These people don't have unlimited money but they have lots of money. And not all these people send their money to the Caymans. They live with their money. A lot of these people are older than 50 years old and they say, 'I worked hard and now I want to live.' "

Aston officials say they have a year's worth of sales on the order books for the DB9.