The Bez legacy

[v8vantage]

Much has been written and said by Dr. Bez on how he saved Aston Martin and made it into the company it is today. As he is so keen to take credit for what he created the linked article is quite interesting. Seems he left them in a bigger mess than anyone realised.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/could-new-safety-...

The interesting thing is the linked documents AM had to file when asking for a hardship exemption, they paint a poor picture of declining sales and lack of funds.

http://www.regulations.gov/contentStreamer?objectI...

http://www.regulations.gov/contentStreamer?objectI...

[v8vantage]

The documents do indeed explain much of what has been happening within the company. The sales volume for 2012 was only 3,786 odd cars, second lowest to 2009 at 3,131 (the height of the Global recession). Since then the markets have returned but AML, under Bez's leadership, was unable to capitalise on improvements to the financial situation worldwide and the emergence of new markets like China. Expect to see even fewer cars sold in 2013 and 2014.

Even if they do get an exemption they only expect to sell 670 V8/DB9s until the new model arrives. They still have to drop the AMG V8 into the existing models but this may be cancelled due to lack of funds and the AMG/AML integration wont occur until 2016 at the earliest.

One note in the documents that is particularly revealing is the loss attributed to the Cygnet, Bez's greatest folly. Listed as "Impairment of Cygnet tangible and intangible assets" it shows a loss of £12 Million!