ASTON MARTIN - UK ANNUAL SALES
Discussion
Zod said:
Jockman said:
Zod said:
Do people realise, by the way, that the Rapide is Aston's biggest seller?
Nope...I didn't realise !!I thought it was the Vantage.
Perhaps if people spent less time going OT and more time on the cars we would be a lot more educated....
Zod said:
Do people realise, by the way, that the Rapide is Aston's biggest seller?
I would have guessed Vantage, but if correct, it must be due to overseas demand.The UK new registrations for the Rapide show (rightly or wrongly),
2010 .................... 192
2011 .................... 186
2012 (to 31 Sep) .... 81
Jon39 said:
I would have guessed Vantage, but if correct, it must be due to overseas demand.
The UK new registrations for the Rapide show (rightly or wrongly),
2010 .................... 192
2011 .................... 186
2012 (to 31 Sep) .... 81
Very few sales in the USA, that's for certain. No one needs a severely compromised 4-seater here. You buy a DB9 for yourself, and a Range Rover for the family...The UK new registrations for the Rapide show (rightly or wrongly),
2010 .................... 192
2011 .................... 186
2012 (to 31 Sep) .... 81
Jon39, may I ask what you do for living? You seem very well informed on this subject. I was interested in your views on the way forward for AM.
Personally I can see that they want to go up market, this I understand, but with a loaded vanquish at £220k, a DBS at £180-200k, then I'm guessing that these cars are aimed at Company Directors etc, but with the current economy can a company boss / director justify this sort of cost of car coupled with the huge car tax that goes with this? Did car tax have a ceiling on it with the value of the car, but they took this off now... ? Thats a question as I don't know ....!
Whilst its great to have this car at £220k, when you can get the same Range Rover at £80k, then I must question, is AM's direction turning to upmarket, is this the right direction?
People with serious dosh can look to the 177, or Zagato, or as a collector then you get to look at Lambo's, Ferrari's, Bugatti's etc etc
I believe AM need to compete with Range Rover's, big BMW's, big Audi's, big Merc's, so the £90 - 100k market is not one to be pushed to one side. I agree with the other PH'er and can't believe that £500M worth of investment means that they want to maintain the status quo, they will want changes and at 982 UK cars, that defo needs to change.
Personally I can see that they want to go up market, this I understand, but with a loaded vanquish at £220k, a DBS at £180-200k, then I'm guessing that these cars are aimed at Company Directors etc, but with the current economy can a company boss / director justify this sort of cost of car coupled with the huge car tax that goes with this? Did car tax have a ceiling on it with the value of the car, but they took this off now... ? Thats a question as I don't know ....!
Whilst its great to have this car at £220k, when you can get the same Range Rover at £80k, then I must question, is AM's direction turning to upmarket, is this the right direction?
People with serious dosh can look to the 177, or Zagato, or as a collector then you get to look at Lambo's, Ferrari's, Bugatti's etc etc
I believe AM need to compete with Range Rover's, big BMW's, big Audi's, big Merc's, so the £90 - 100k market is not one to be pushed to one side. I agree with the other PH'er and can't believe that £500M worth of investment means that they want to maintain the status quo, they will want changes and at 982 UK cars, that defo needs to change.
MaverickV12 said:
I believe AM need to compete with Range Rover's, big BMW's, big Audi's, big Merc's, so the £90 - 100k market is not one to be pushed to one side. I agree with the other PH'er and can't believe that £500M worth of investment means that they want to maintain the status quo, they will want changes and at 982 UK cars, that defo needs to change.
but can't afford an aston, thats where the money is.Zod said:
Been using it in X5s for a coupel of years now. It is the first auto I've ever both liked and with which I've never felt the need to change gear manually. The new X5 has paddles. I don't see the point of them. In an Aston with an autobox, I use the paddles all the time.
Agree, got it in my 530GT albeit without paddles. Best auto box I have driven, up changes are flawless, only thing they haven't 'bottomed' is the delay then brutal delivery on kick down, having said that even with the delay its still a lot quicker than dropping a couple of gears manually. Mako V12V said:
Jon - 31 Sep???? Only in leap years and when Augcember is a month after Janober 
There are certainly wide awake people contributing to this topic.I have been caught out twice now. Sorry Mako.
My excuse - brain fade today, trying to make a Raspberry Pi display video and sound. HELP !
This is the extract from howmanyleft that caught me out.
'Note: the count for 2012 only includes vehicles sold up to Sep 31st'.
Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 8th January 23:16
MaverickV12 said:
Jon39, may I ask what you do for living? You seem very well informed on this subject. I was interested in your views on the way forward for AM.
Let's just say, I allocate long-term capital to businesses. Fortunately some of them have been successful, hence slight justification for an AM, that stayed in the dry throughout December.I don't think I have expressed any views on the way forward for AM. You must be thinking of someone else. Perhaps Jonby, he wrote a good piece.
I admire the cars, the designers and everyone who has contributed to the company, but the last 100 years have repeatedly shown, as a commercial business it is extremely difficult. Hurrah for each and every rescuer. I do not have a clue about the way forward, or how sustainable long-term growing profits could be achieved. I was sorry to see their UK sales reduce again, in a year when there was some growth in the sector (particularly by private buyers), hence starting this topic.
Remaining on this subject, there was a reference on the forum recently, to Victor Gauntlett's obituary. It does make interesting reading, giving an insight into past Aston troubles.
eg. 'The factory at Newport Pagnell was employing 360 people, producing 3 and a half cars a week'.
One does wonder how many of those 360 people, could be paid at the end of each week, from the profits of just 3 and a half cars.
Edited by Jon39 on Wednesday 9th January 11:25
Jon39 said:
One does wonder how many of those 360 people, could be paid at the end of each week, from the profits of just 3 and a half cars.
which is the manufacturer attributed with the tale of the customer who was a friend of the owner/chairman and asked for a special deal: to be sold a car at cost price. The reply ? 'Certainly - that will be 20% more than the current retail price !'jonby said:
which is the manufacturer attributed with the tale of the customer who was a friend of the owner/chairman and asked for a special deal: to be sold a car at cost price. The reply ? 'Certainly - that will be 20% more than the current retail price !'
I thought it was Mr. Gauntlett, because it is mentioned by Jay Leno in his excellent YouTube review of the V12V.However, it was pointed out, when I mentioned the reference on this forum, that it is actually attributed to Sir David Brown.
I suspect that Aston can sell around 4000 cars a year whatever they charge (at the moment), as long as the cars aren't overpriced compared to the competition. I doubt have the kind of backing or investment needed to become a mainstream manufacturer - look at the R&D budgets of someone like BMW or Daimler.
It would be understandable if they wanted to push a bit upmarket (Ferrari territory) and have cars starting at the £150k range.
They have the name and the heritage, and buyers are more forgiving of TATDS at that level. Needs better customer service though, but that's an easier investment than being able to make four times as many cars, with better quality control.
- Steve
It would be understandable if they wanted to push a bit upmarket (Ferrari territory) and have cars starting at the £150k range.
They have the name and the heritage, and buyers are more forgiving of TATDS at that level. Needs better customer service though, but that's an easier investment than being able to make four times as many cars, with better quality control.
- Steve
theno23 said:
I suspect that Aston can sell around 4000 cars a year whatever they charge (at the moment), as long as the cars aren't overpriced compared to the competition. I doubt have the kind of backing or investment needed to become a mainstream manufacturer - look at the R&D budgets of someone like BMW or Daimler.
It would be understandable if they wanted to push a bit upmarket (Ferrari territory) and have cars starting at the £150k range.
They have the name and the heritage, and buyers are more forgiving of TATDS at that level. Needs better customer service though, but that's an easier investment than being able to make four times as many cars, with better quality control.
I agree with this 100% - the market segment beneath the Vantage is saturated with very good cars from mass manufacturers and people expect perfection, which Aston cannot deliver due to very restricted R&D and testing budgets.It would be understandable if they wanted to push a bit upmarket (Ferrari territory) and have cars starting at the £150k range.
They have the name and the heritage, and buyers are more forgiving of TATDS at that level. Needs better customer service though, but that's an easier investment than being able to make four times as many cars, with better quality control.
A curious twist that the more money people spend, the more willing they are to put up with TADTS-type issues; buyers at that level seem to accept it as part of the ownership experience of a limited run hand-built car. 'Character' if you will.
Squeaks and rattles, silly satnav and so on would not be accepted in an SLK55, Cayman or M3. For a car like a 310quish, Aventador or F12berlinetta it's the norm; I suppose the owners expect it and are looking for other things from their ownership, like some exclusivity coupled with special design details.
yeti said:
Squeaks and rattles, silly satnav and so on would not be accepted in an SLK55, Cayman or M3. For a car like a 310quish, Aventador or F12berlinetta it's the norm; I suppose the owners expect it and are looking for other things from their ownership, like some exclusivity coupled with special design details.
Very trueWatching that EVO vid on the 1-77 I was amazed at stuff like the exhausts cooking the cabin, the rear spoiler motor noise in the cabin, the vantage seat adjusters and the storage space so small you could barely get a credit card and fuel receipts in there
AM need to be making max profit from minimum number of products, ATM they seem to do this by offering a lot of permutations from a small number of parts bins
I think the +100k bespoke car is where they need to focus, above the Mercs, Audis & BMW's but below the Zonda's et al
I accept they need funds from 4x4's and 4dr saloons, I just hope that does not become the core driver.
Good luck to them with using the new investment to best effect (though they do not have a great track record in that respect
)
This is quite a interesting topic and having owned a number of the models within the range some of you may have remembered a topic I started about 18 months ago around depreciation. As a little background From 2003 until 2010 I bought a new AM annually, with our final car in early 2010 being a Rapide, which turned out to be the first customer registered car delivered, also one of the best cars they produce, we paid full iist yet 3 months later they were offering 40k off of these cars and the end result being was over 12months and 2,500 miles we lost nearly 60k on the car and as a comparison within 2 weeks of taking delivering of the Rapide we took delivery of a California as well which we covered 6k in the car over 12 months and it cost me 5k. From that point on we have stayed away from the brand because there pricing is all over the place, at one point it appeared you could name your price on stock cars and they would put it too the factory.
Until they resolve the pricing with the cars in the UK there are a number of loyal customers that will just refuse to buy them, so its no surprise that sales figures have tailed off.
Until they resolve the pricing with the cars in the UK there are a number of loyal customers that will just refuse to buy them, so its no surprise that sales figures have tailed off.
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