Wednesday 9th October 2013

£25m loss for Aston Martin in 2012

Aston posts hefty losses as recession's grip refuses to loosen

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We'd got rather used to positive Aston Martin news recently, what with the Cygnet's demise and the arrival of exciting products such as the V12 Vantage S.

But the jolly mood has been subdued rather by Autocar's news that Aston recorded a £24.9m loss in 2012. You can read the full story on it here, but a predictably large portion of the blame has been attributed to the recession. Aston has also rather ambiguously stated its revenues were affected by 'vehicle launches in the fourth quarter [of 2012]'.

It's therefore unclear whether this means Aston's own launches (see the Vanquish in November 2012) or those of its rivals; the Bentley Continental GT Speed, for example, arrived in October last year.

Either way, the news is rather disappointing, and hopefully a situation that can be rectified through the AMG collaboration. Read more about the German side of that deal in our interview with outgoing AMG boss Ola Kallenius. On a more positive note, Dan is driving the V12 Vantage S and the Vanquish Volante next week. In America. What was that about expensive vehicle launches?

[Sources: Autocar]

[Steamer]

Sad news indeed.

However when I stuck my head in their door back in the summer this year there was a massive amount of car bodies in the production rack... looked very busy indeed.

Lets hope 2013 has been better for them already. Especially as it's their 100th year.

[vrooom]

Not surpersing.. i mean they all look same!

[aarondbs]

vrooom said:

Not surpersing.. i mean they all look same!

possibly true but difficult to improve on perfection... The original DB7 which started the current shape has evolved nicely (IMO)

[JuniorD]

Maybe they should break with the British tradition of flogging a once great design to death.

[The Vambo]

They blame the recession,

I with my lack of knowledge and conclusions that i have jumped to blame a range of cars that has even ardent Astonophiles(?) wondering if they have just woken up in 2004.

Time to build something that doesn't in any way look like a Vantage.

Edited by The Vambo on Wednesday 9th October 14:05

[GetCarter]

Customer service is piss poor... which is why I (reluctantly) ditched mine.

[TREMAiNE]

JuniorD said:

Maybe they should break with the British tradition of flogging a once great design to death.

+1

[Zod]

article said:

It's therefore unclear whether this means Aston's own launches (see the Vanquish in November 2012) or those of its rivals; the Bentley Continental GT Speed, for example, arrived in October last year.

It means the Vanquish launch.

AS for the "they all lok the same" refrain, the cars evolve. The same goes for Porsche. It's a wonderful design and there is a company look, in the shape of the grille, the faired-in headlights and the side window profile. Apart from the headlights (the 70s, 80s and most of the 90s produced different looking front ends, but still with the stepped grille shape), those features have been common to all Astons since the 60s. They will continue.

[Neil1300R]

£12.6M impairment on assets related to the Cygnet.
Most car manufacturers sales have been up So its not the recession.

[RichB]

TREMAiNE said:

JuniorD said:

Maybe they should break with the British tradition of flogging a once great design to death.

+1

Indeed a typically British trait, not something the Germans would do.

[Janesy B]

Go shout at VW for that, even their Vans have the same 'face' as their passat/polo/golf/everything.

[PapaC]

Hopefully the amg link will allow them to make new more modern models instead of modified db9's. on an 10 year old platform.

[burwoodman]

I thought it was the engine range which was flogged to death not just the styling. Lambo and Ferrari has continued to hike power and performance whereas Astons old engines couldn't keep up until now.

[DonkeyApple]

Hmmm, the recession. Leaves on the line, wrong kind of snow etc, etc.

The truth lies in the remuneration packages of board members, failed follies and the cost of excessive debt.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Wednesday 9th October 14:39

[Frimley111R]

burwoodman said:

I thought it was the engine range which was flogged to death not just the styling. Lambo and Ferrari has continued to hike power and performance whereas Astons old engines couldn't keep up until now.

TBH Ferrari is a largish company and Lambo has VWs coffers to call on. I often wonder how long before AM (and Lotus) are swallowed up by a major car company. Can they really access the same tech/engineering as their larger rivals?

[Steamer]

Janesy B said:

Go shout at VW for that, even their Vans have the same 'face' as their passat/polo/golf/everything.

Its just a common traight of 'aspirational marketing'... everything looks the same but on a sliding scale of costs. People can then 'buy-in to the brand' at any level but feel like they are still an equal part of the four rings club it.

[Carnnoisseur]

Janesy B said:

Go shout at VW for that, even their Vans have the same 'face' as their passat/polo/golf/everything.

Indeed, the Ford Fiesta Car/Van also share an uncanny "front" resemblance to the DB9.

[Zod]

Neil1300R said:

£12.6M impairment on assets related to the Cygnet.
Most car manufacturers sales have been up So its not the recession.

Most manufacturers with an average asking price North of £100k?

[RankAmateur]

My problem with Aston is that they've always felt like all show and little substance to me. They're not great cars to drive. Just to look at. And that's not enough reason to fork out 100k- especially when the looks haven't changed in a decade...

[V8 FOU]

Sooo, extrapolating the £25M loss on sales of? 2000 is a loss of £12500 per car or sales of 1000 is a loss of £25000, etc etc. Don't know how many they have shifted over the year, but, once again, a British tradition of making a loss on every car. Think of classic mini.....