Should McLaren and Aston Martin consider a merger?
Discussion
McLaren is a loss-making, undercapitalised British manufacturer of luxury performance cars.
Aston Martin is a loss-making, undercapitalised British manufacturer of luxury performance cars.
Both however have very strong brands.
McLaren only make mid-engined carbon-tub supercars; they have yet to follow their rivals into the lucrative SUV sector.
Aston Martin only make front-engined aluminium GT / sports cars, plus the DBX which is critically acclaimed but seemingly not a huge seller. They seem to be struggling to develop mid-engined cars, which programme is now in doubt.
Both face challenges today, and even greater ones tomorrow with the need to develop desirable hybrid and electric cars and to make their business model work in a world of 6% interest rates.
Rather than McLaren borrowing ever more to try and fund development of an SUV worthy of the name, and Aston borrowing ever more to try to develop a competitive range of mid-engined cars, wouldn't it make more sense to join forces to face tomorrow's challenges together?
Both brands would of course continue, but each sticking to what they know and do best. They could consolidate at least elements of powertrains; even if they say created a flat-plane dry-sump V8 for McLaren and a cross-plane wet-sump spec for Aston, that's still a lot less cash than two separate powertrains. Hybrid tech could be a joint development, perhaps with the Aston just having a bigger battery pack, and EV could be done together. The brands could be sold from joint showrooms, allowing each dealer to offer a comprehensive range of high-end cars on one site, and I don't think they would devalue each another (unlike say buying an Alpine alongside Dacias). The engineers working on mid-engined Astons could even change tack and bring back the Lagonda brand on a new four-door.
A merger would fully protect both brands "British Luxury" image, rather than either being taken over by a more high-volume foreign corporation.
It feels like the two companies are very much compatible in their customer base and complementary in their product offerings, each has some great engineering but not always quite the resources to deliver products that are 100%. By joining them together you could turn two shaky companies into one solid one that could really thrive in the marketplace.
Do you think it would work?
Aston Martin is a loss-making, undercapitalised British manufacturer of luxury performance cars.
Both however have very strong brands.
McLaren only make mid-engined carbon-tub supercars; they have yet to follow their rivals into the lucrative SUV sector.
Aston Martin only make front-engined aluminium GT / sports cars, plus the DBX which is critically acclaimed but seemingly not a huge seller. They seem to be struggling to develop mid-engined cars, which programme is now in doubt.
Both face challenges today, and even greater ones tomorrow with the need to develop desirable hybrid and electric cars and to make their business model work in a world of 6% interest rates.
Rather than McLaren borrowing ever more to try and fund development of an SUV worthy of the name, and Aston borrowing ever more to try to develop a competitive range of mid-engined cars, wouldn't it make more sense to join forces to face tomorrow's challenges together?
Both brands would of course continue, but each sticking to what they know and do best. They could consolidate at least elements of powertrains; even if they say created a flat-plane dry-sump V8 for McLaren and a cross-plane wet-sump spec for Aston, that's still a lot less cash than two separate powertrains. Hybrid tech could be a joint development, perhaps with the Aston just having a bigger battery pack, and EV could be done together. The brands could be sold from joint showrooms, allowing each dealer to offer a comprehensive range of high-end cars on one site, and I don't think they would devalue each another (unlike say buying an Alpine alongside Dacias). The engineers working on mid-engined Astons could even change tack and bring back the Lagonda brand on a new four-door.
A merger would fully protect both brands "British Luxury" image, rather than either being taken over by a more high-volume foreign corporation.
It feels like the two companies are very much compatible in their customer base and complementary in their product offerings, each has some great engineering but not always quite the resources to deliver products that are 100%. By joining them together you could turn two shaky companies into one solid one that could really thrive in the marketplace.
Do you think it would work?
I don't think so really. Fundamentally, whilst they could both be described as luxury and performance. One definitely sticks more luxury first than the other and vice versa.
Additionally, why would stick two ships together that have both struggled previously, and only one of them is showing a glimmer of hope if being honest.
Reality is AML's future rests with Stroll (short to medium term) and Merc and direct AML shareholder, ironically, Geely (rightly or wrongly). This is also combined with the Lucid news, bringing even more complexity, which if being blunt will probably end up being gathered up by Geely.
Additionally, why would stick two ships together that have both struggled previously, and only one of them is showing a glimmer of hope if being honest.
Reality is AML's future rests with Stroll (short to medium term) and Merc and direct AML shareholder, ironically, Geely (rightly or wrongly). This is also combined with the Lucid news, bringing even more complexity, which if being blunt will probably end up being gathered up by Geely.
I believe McLaren will struggle more than Aston Martin as they don’t have the same level of funding nor the volume potential. Aston Martin have the cachet, factory and a heritage division. McLaren have too narrow a product and no heritage in the road car market. The F1 was made in a different facility for a different client by a different organization. No merger and let’s see what happens in three years time to both.
LMFAO!!!!! I been saying this for years. Ive even wrote a email to Mike Flewitt hoping he see the benefits.
Considering they have different target audiences yet could use economy of scale for purchasing parts, share mclaren V6/V8 engine, aston V12, mclaren infotainment, production capacity, showrooms and research and develpment.
A Mclaren/Aston could use Aston F1 as a B team for Mclaren in F1 aswell with Aston targeting LeMans and other GT races to go racing.
The combined Aston/Mclaren lineup would emulate ferrari who have a full lineup of gt and mid engine sports cars.
Considering they have different target audiences yet could use economy of scale for purchasing parts, share mclaren V6/V8 engine, aston V12, mclaren infotainment, production capacity, showrooms and research and develpment.
A Mclaren/Aston could use Aston F1 as a B team for Mclaren in F1 aswell with Aston targeting LeMans and other GT races to go racing.
The combined Aston/Mclaren lineup would emulate ferrari who have a full lineup of gt and mid engine sports cars.
McLaren would be better off trying to team up with a company like BMW. (since BMW don't currently make any mid engined or super fast 2 door cars and there'd be no inter brand competition)
Then arranging to get a platform share for the X5 or X7 to make their own McLaren SUV (ala Urus or Cayenne) that they can wang out for £200k each, and make a ton of profit on, which they can pour back into the fun stuff.
Do that, and they can cut the number of sports cars back. Both in terms of models and units sold. Currently McLaren sell 3k a year give or take. make 1k of them the fast "LT" stuff. Bin off the other cars range. In particular the ridiculous "GT" etc. And make 1500 McSUVs and they'll survive.
I can genuinely see a demand for something like this
(not my renders)
Then arranging to get a platform share for the X5 or X7 to make their own McLaren SUV (ala Urus or Cayenne) that they can wang out for £200k each, and make a ton of profit on, which they can pour back into the fun stuff.
Do that, and they can cut the number of sports cars back. Both in terms of models and units sold. Currently McLaren sell 3k a year give or take. make 1k of them the fast "LT" stuff. Bin off the other cars range. In particular the ridiculous "GT" etc. And make 1500 McSUVs and they'll survive.
I can genuinely see a demand for something like this
(not my renders)
Edited by BunkMoreland on Monday 6th May 17:07
tiger5tyle said:
LMFAO!!!!! I been saying this for years
Glad someone else sees the benefits of the plan 
BunkMoreland said:
McLaren would be better off trying to team up with a company like BMW. (since BMW don't currently make any mid engined or super fast 2 door cars and there'd be no inter brand competition)
Then arranging to get a platform share for the X5 or X7 to make their own McLaren SUV (ala Urus or Cayenne) that they can wang out for £200k each, and make a ton of profit on, which they can pour back into the fun stuff.
Do that, and they can cut the number of sports cars back. Both in terms of models and units sold. Currently McLaren sell 3k a year give or take. make 1k of them the fast "LT" stuff. Bin off the other cars range. In particular the ridiculous "GT" etc. And make 1500 McSUVs and they'll survive.
The BMW deal has been mentioned recently and they certainly have done well with Mini and Rolls. I could see it working if they want a top-end performance marque to complement their top-end luxury one. Then arranging to get a platform share for the X5 or X7 to make their own McLaren SUV (ala Urus or Cayenne) that they can wang out for £200k each, and make a ton of profit on, which they can pour back into the fun stuff.
Do that, and they can cut the number of sports cars back. Both in terms of models and units sold. Currently McLaren sell 3k a year give or take. make 1k of them the fast "LT" stuff. Bin off the other cars range. In particular the ridiculous "GT" etc. And make 1500 McSUVs and they'll survive.
The Aston DBX and Ferrari Purosangue are bespoke platforms, to me those are the cars McLaren should be aiming at if they went SUV, not a cynical rebody like a Urus. That it works for Lambo says more about their customer base than anything else I think.
Skeptisk said:
Would be like hoping that by marrying a drug addict with a drunk they would help each other sort their s
t out!
They're both highly capable of producing great cars, e.g. the 750S and the DBX are both very well received critically.t out! The problem is they don't sell enough of each model/platform for high enough prices, so the revenue in doesn't cover the investment in R&D and setting up production. So in due course they need another influx of outside investment to keep the company going and fund the next round of products, and so on every few years, never reaching critical mass to be self-sustaining.
If you had one V6 hybrid drivetrain instead of two, one basic V8 engine, one infotainment system with various skins, one car networking design, etc etc then you'd be getting close to halving many significant costs, while still being able to produce distinctive front-engined Astons and mid-engined McLarens targeting their separate customer bases.
So it would be more like two moderately successful artists who don't quite earn enough to cover their respective rents, moving in together and paying one rent bill rather than two, and thus balancing the books.
Good thought, OP. I guess there are other options but this one, to my mind, makes some sense. McLaren are surely headed nowhere as an independent manufacturer, and Aston have struggled for years, although they might have turned a corner recently.
Whatever, the world isn’t kind to small automotive manufacturers.
Whatever, the world isn’t kind to small automotive manufacturers.
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