CEO Andy Palmer in conversation with Geoffrey Moore
Discussion
He seems to be pinning a lot of hopes on 'female drivers'. I think he's wasting his time. Its like saying there's not enough women posters on Pistonheads, how can we get them posting? I know lets change the colours to pink with sparkly bits and logo could be changed from pistons to flowers? It won't change the fact the most (not all 
ok ) women simply aren't interested.
ok ) women simply aren't interested. Quarterly said:
He seems to be pinning a lot of hopes on 'female drivers'. I think he's wasting his time. Its like saying there's not enough women posters on Pistonheads, how can we get them posting? I know lets change the colours to pink with sparkly bits and logo could be changed from pistons to flowers? It won't change the fact the most (not all ok ) women simply aren't interested.
ok ) women simply aren't interested. You may be right, but I will reserve judgement and hope for the best. If Dr. Palmer does not succeed, then repaying that £500m will become a problem.
I don't see many men driving all those monster cars / trucks, that block the roads outside schools twice a day. Presumably then, female drivers do like these big vehicles, so a DBX might become tempting for them.
Jon39 said:
You may be right, but I will reserve judgement and hope for the best. If Dr. Palmer does not succeed, then repaying that £500m will become a problem.
I don't see many men driving all those monster cars / trucks, that block the roads outside schools twice a day. Presumably then, female drivers do like these big vehicles, so a DBX might become tempting for them.
Pricing will be vital as those monster trucks you refer to are "premium" not "luxury"
Quarterly said:
He seems to be pinning a lot of hopes on 'female drivers'. I think he's wasting his time. Its like saying there's not enough women posters on Pistonheads, how can we get them posting? I know lets change the colours to pink with sparkly bits and logo could be changed from pistons to flowers? It won't change the fact the most (not all ok ) women simply aren't interested.
You didn't understand his point. He was explaining that every car is designed to fit the 95 percentile man eg. Big blokes. In future models they will design some to fit the smaller person. Shorthand is female. But smaller men too. If the bigger person doesn't fit, tough, there is already another Aston that will fit them. They also note that their data shows that women support the male choice of Aston Martins because they are beautiful. But women don't buy for themselves because they are built for generally bigger frames, the 95 percentile man thing. Makes sense to me. ok ) women simply aren't interested. JeremyH5 said:
You didn't understand his point. He was explaining that every car is designed to fit the 95 percentile man eg. Big blokes. In future models they will design some to fit the smaller person. Shorthand is female. But smaller men too. If the bigger person doesn't fit, tough, there is already another Aston that will fit them. They also note that their data shows that women support the male choice of Aston Martins because they are beautiful. But women don't buy for themselves because they are built for generally bigger frames, the 95 percentile man thing. Makes sense to me.
If that makes sense, then at only 5'9", why won't my Vantage seat go back far enough for me?Do any cars exist with adjustable pedals? Steering wheels adjust and seats adjust, but ladies often have to sit too close to the wheel, only because they find it difficult to reach the pedals.
Edited by Jon39 on Monday 26th October 22:06
AMDBSNick said:
I really hope it works out for the guy and will stick my neck out and admit I quite like the DBX.
Pricing will be vital as those monster trucks you refer to are "premium" not "luxury"
Oh no, have you taken a bang to you head Nick? Pricing will be vital as those monster trucks you refer to are "premium" not "luxury"
I suppose its like all new models that are a departure, maybe it will grow on me in time.
Jon39 said:
If that makes sense, then at only 5'9", why won't my Vantage seat go back far enough for me?
You must have your seat in a vry strange position - I'm taller than you and never had a problem with the seatoing back far enough - fom memory (as I no longr have a Vantage) the seat wasn't all the way back.Edited by Jon39 on Monday 26th October 22:06
Jon39 said:
Quarterly said:
... most women simply aren't interested.
Where is Mr. avinalarf?
I think he knows how to get women interested.
I have recently read rave reviews of the new McLaren 570S which leads me to believe what I have always thought.
Do away with the froth and bulls
t and get the core product right otherwise the core customer will drift away.Trying to be all things to all people often leads to satisfying nobody as with M&S.
I have no problem with AM making a DBX albeit rather late to the party but the focus should be on the new generation sports car.
avinalarf said:
Jon39 said:
Quarterly said:
... most women simply aren't interested.
Where is Mr. avinalarf?
I think he knows how to get women interested.
I have recently read rave reviews of the new McLaren 570S which leads me to believe what I have always thought.
Do away with the froth and bulls
t and get the core product right otherwise the core customer will drift away.Trying to be all things to all people often leads to satisfying nobody as with M&S.
I have no problem with AM making a DBX albeit rather late to the party but the focus should be on the new generation sports car.
it's interesting that now cars have effectively got as fast as you can possibly use them in almost any circumstance, regardless of respect for the law, plus the fact that you can buy an M4 or an RS3 for much less money than exotica and have a super quick car, I think many are getting back to looking at things like steering feel, brake feel, throttle response, etc which has been lost on a lot of the most modern supercars but not on Astons
I get all the arguments about DBX but for me, the only reservation I have is one I've not seen mentioned, which is that the DBX will be perfectly suitably for many males however once a car is designated 'the ladies car', it will be extremely offputting for any man to drive it
I don't think the Ferrari California has ever really got past the 'womans/soft' Ferrari designation the journos gave it at launch.
I love the look of DBX and can imagine being potentially interested in it when it launches, but not if it keeps being called 'the Aston designed for women'
I don't think the Ferrari California has ever really got past the 'womans/soft' Ferrari designation the journos gave it at launch.
I love the look of DBX and can imagine being potentially interested in it when it launches, but not if it keeps being called 'the Aston designed for women'
Andy Palmer spoke at length about luxury brand companies, such as Hermes and Prada, being worth far more in profit multiple terms, than ordinary car companies.
Ferrari has just floated and is trading at a multiple of 14. That high figure might drift down though, after the initial enthusiasm.
Puzzled why Dr. Palmer spoke about this, because with a negative profit, whether the multiple is 3 times or 14 times, makes no difference. Still he did begin the item, by saying accountants in the room might know more than him.
The Sunday Times (25th October 2015) stated;
AM 2014 loss £71.8m, 3,661 cars
(2013 loss £25.4m, 4,200 cars)
Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 27th October 14:49
Jon39 said:
Andy Palmer spoke at length about luxury brand companies, such as Hermes and Prada, being worth far more in profit multiple terms, than ordinary car companies.
Ferrari has just floated and is trading at a multiple of 14. That high figure might drift down though, after the initial enthusiasm.
Puzzled why Dr. Palmer spoke about this, because with a negative profit, whether the multiple is 3 times or 14 times, makes no difference. Still he did begin the item, by saying accountants in the room might know more than him.
The Sunday Times (25th October 2015) stated;
AM 2014 loss £71.8m, 3,661 cars
(2013 loss £25.4m, 4,200 cars)
DBX will almost certainly sell very well by Aston standards, which in turn puts the company in profit, which in turn allows them to invest more in R&D in the sports cars, which in turn helps them sell more sports cars (and discount them by less) plus refresh the sports cars more frequently (which in turn means more sales and less discount so higher margin), etc, etc - DBX will have to be handled very poorly to not turn the company into profitFerrari has just floated and is trading at a multiple of 14. That high figure might drift down though, after the initial enthusiasm.
Puzzled why Dr. Palmer spoke about this, because with a negative profit, whether the multiple is 3 times or 14 times, makes no difference. Still he did begin the item, by saying accountants in the room might know more than him.
The Sunday Times (25th October 2015) stated;
AM 2014 loss £71.8m, 3,661 cars
(2013 loss £25.4m, 4,200 cars)
Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 27th October 14:49
I get the point you're making but patently, if andy palmer doesn't believe he can make AML profitable, he wouldn't/shouldn't be there
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