Rumour Aston Martin London closing down
Discussion
Just something I heard today that both Western Avenue and Mayfair are closing their Aston Martin interests via their Stratstone group. I went to order a part today and they advised their parts dept was now closed and then called another dealer who had advised they had heard this rumour.
Apparently Stratstones want to focus on the bigger brands/sales
Apparently Stratstones want to focus on the bigger brands/sales
It is clearly becoming increasingly difficult, for many small and medium size businesses in the UK to trade profitably.
Every day now, we hear about business closures and job losses.
'Speciality' barber shops, candy stores and vape businesses continue to open though. Allegedly they are allowed to operate an unusual business model.
Aston Martin main dealers have always faced a combination of huge premises and stocking costs, but supported by a modest number of annual sales.
Last December both AM Chichester and AM Cheltenham closed.
Both of those dealers had represented Aston Martin for many years.
Stratstone have about a dozen different franchises, so they will know exactly which are the most profitable for them.
In 2023 they partnered with BYD. That might be a clue.
Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 5th May 14:08
Jon39 said:
Last December both AM Chichester and AM Cheltenham closed.
According to https://www.astonmartin.com/en-gb/dealers there are only two dealers!Funny how on that webpage, the dealers are allocated letters A to N.
Imagine all the D E I Department meetings that took place at Gaydon.
"You cannot list any dealer as No. 1.
In our very important department (I know Nigel Farage said we ought to start looking for another job), we would consider that to be elitist, so no, you have to use letters."
My favourites United Kingdom dealer is N.
N. Aston Martin Antwerp
Autolei 322, Antwerp, B-2160 Wommelgem
Bit of a slip up there AML.
alscar said:
Plus another 11 UK ones if you scroll down beyond A and B .
Well what a stupid way of doing it! They don't even appear on the map unless you 'load more' in the scrolling section. How hard can a short list and a map be?Jon39 said:
N. Aston Martin Antwerp
Autolei 322, Antwerp, B-2160 Wommelgem
I can't get further than M. I click 'load more' and get K, L and M over and over again.Autolei 322, Antwerp, B-2160 Wommelgem
Moderator edit: no naming & shaming
Simpo Two said:
Well what a stupid way of doing it! They don't even appear on the map unless you 'load more' in the scrolling section. How hard can a short list and a map be?
Jon39 said:
N. Aston Martin Antwerp
Autolei 322, Antwerp, B-2160 Wommelgem
I can't get further than M. I click 'load more' and get K, L and M over and over again.Autolei 322, Antwerp, B-2160 Wommelgem
I first clicked the link posted earlier.
Needed then to wait a while, before some more dealers loaded.
Then clicked 'Load more'.
The upper portion of the list, including that great UK city, Antwerp then appeared.
Who was the twerp at Gaydon, who failed geography.
Answer, Anne Twerp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jon39 said:
It is clearly becoming increasingly difficult, for many small and medium size businesses in the UK to trade profitably.
Every day now, we hear about business closures and job losses.
'Speciality' barber shops, candy stores and vape businesses continue to open though. Allegedly they are allowed to operate an unusual business model.
Aston Martin main dealers have always faced a combination of huge premises and stocking costs, but supported by a modest number of annual sales.
Last December both AM Chichester and AM Cheltenham closed.
Both of those dealers had represented Aston Martin for many years.
Stratstone have about a dozen different franchises, so they will know exactly which are the most profitable for them.
In 2023 they partnered with BYD. That might be a clue.
Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 5th May 14:08
Change the rules, move the goalposts, disincentivise and positively punish innovation until there’s nobody left to tax.
Make it make sense.
Am197t said:
It's 100% true one of the technicians told me today end of this month, I hope it's just this particular dealership and not a wider Aston Martin issue for those of us who live in London. Where are we going to take our cars now for servicing? Hatfield?
It was a manager at AM Hatfield who took a fortnight not to be able to give me a part number, which didn't inspire much confidence. Let's hope the rest of the company is better.CloudStuff said:
If you follow Rachel s logic , if a business is profitable and functioning, there must be people behind it with broad shoulders not paying their fair share
Welcome to socialism!Am197t said:
It's 100% true one of the technicians told me today end of this month, I hope it's just this particular dealership and not a wider Aston Martin issue for those of us who live in London. Where are we going to take our cars now for servicing? Hatfield?
That's a shame... I bought my Vanquish from Park Lane following a very cheerful lunch. Possibly too cheerful.I remember remarking to the salesman that there was no mirror in the driver's side sun visor. "Gentleman's car sir" was his reply.
NDA said:
I remember remarking to the salesman that there was no mirror in the driver's side sun visor.
"Gentleman's car sir" was his reply.
"Gentleman's car sir" was his reply.
It is all a puzzle to me, but according to the gospel of Wokee, I understand that these days a gentleman can marry a gentleman.
Therefore when the gentleman (we could call him Sandy) is driving his Aston Martin, alongside his gentleman husband (we could call him Julian), then Julian might feel offended to be provided with a mirror in the sun visor.
If it really is a gentleman's car, then why only provide one gentleman with a mirror?
Cricket has been forced to do away with the batsman and replace him with the mixture for Yorkshire Puddings.
Is it any wonder, that the England cricket team cannot score enough runs to win matches?
Aston Martin have got away with it so far, but a wokee rumpus could occur if this becomes known.
Simpo Two said:
Am197t said:
It's 100% true one of the technicians told me today end of this month, I hope it's just this particular dealership and not a wider Aston Martin issue for those of us who live in London. Where are we going to take our cars now for servicing? Hatfield?
It was a manager at AM Hatfield who took a fortnight not to be able to give me a part number, which didn't inspire much confidence. Let's hope the rest of the company is better.CloudStuff said:
If you follow Rachel s logic , if a business is profitable and functioning, there must be people behind it with broad shoulders not paying their fair share
Welcome to socialism!I don’t recall hearing many good things about servicing at Western Avenue. There may have been such comments but my impression was that they were on the light side of the scales. I tried them once. That was enough.
AM Sevenoaks has moved out to Tunbridge Wells - don’t know why but their servicing was good. There’s HWM in SW London (just about), Hatfield in the north and Sevenoaks in the distant SE. Reading isn’t London.
There remains Pugsley & Lewis in proper SE London and Chiltern Aston north of London (note “of”) both of which provide good servicing options.
It’s not the end of the world chaps.
AM Sevenoaks has moved out to Tunbridge Wells - don’t know why but their servicing was good. There’s HWM in SW London (just about), Hatfield in the north and Sevenoaks in the distant SE. Reading isn’t London.
There remains Pugsley & Lewis in proper SE London and Chiltern Aston north of London (note “of”) both of which provide good servicing options.
It’s not the end of the world chaps.
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