AML - Stock Market Listing
Discussion
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If you have better info, share it..? Any insights are welcome!
Are those customers you mention that were also invited, also buying new AM cars? Because not a lot of people seem to be doing just that so maybe you found some! That would be cool!
About the F1 car going to the pointy end: what info do you have? Or is that just what you have been told by some PR person in the AM hospitality?
Its a fact most of the best Honda employees left Honda and joined the RB engine project when Honda announced to leave F1. Most are still there.. So it will be a very challanging and long road for Honda to improve. New PU, new hybrid system, new rules, less experienced team. But again, if you have more insights, why not share them?
Neweys comments revealed how the relationship actually is / has been the last couple of months: he mentioned when he leared about the problems, that was very very late exposing there had been very little communication between Honda and AM prior, not a good sign for a Works team eh?
Will it be interesting to follow if they can improve, sure but it will be very very tough to get to the front with more Mercedes PU team this year and Ferrari PU teams also improved. Then the RB PU team, even the second team seems to be stable and able to compete.. Good luck Honda!
I would not be surprised if Toto is already talking to Toto but I believe one engine supplier can only serve so many teams. With Alpine taking that spot and Stroll will never go to Ferrari for a PU their only alternative would be the RB PU wich is now linked to Ford.
Anyway this is all off topic and it only concerns a prive team with weird forced sponsor agreement with the AML company this thread is about.
On topic: SP dipped under 40p, wow. The 50M from the F1 deal gives them an extra month of cash. I expect some more news around H1 report.
If you have better info, share it..? Any insights are welcome!
Are those customers you mention that were also invited, also buying new AM cars? Because not a lot of people seem to be doing just that so maybe you found some! That would be cool!
About the F1 car going to the pointy end: what info do you have? Or is that just what you have been told by some PR person in the AM hospitality?
Its a fact most of the best Honda employees left Honda and joined the RB engine project when Honda announced to leave F1. Most are still there.. So it will be a very challanging and long road for Honda to improve. New PU, new hybrid system, new rules, less experienced team. But again, if you have more insights, why not share them?
Neweys comments revealed how the relationship actually is / has been the last couple of months: he mentioned when he leared about the problems, that was very very late exposing there had been very little communication between Honda and AM prior, not a good sign for a Works team eh?
Will it be interesting to follow if they can improve, sure but it will be very very tough to get to the front with more Mercedes PU team this year and Ferrari PU teams also improved. Then the RB PU team, even the second team seems to be stable and able to compete.. Good luck Honda!
I would not be surprised if Toto is already talking to Toto but I believe one engine supplier can only serve so many teams. With Alpine taking that spot and Stroll will never go to Ferrari for a PU their only alternative would be the RB PU wich is now linked to Ford.
Anyway this is all off topic and it only concerns a prive team with weird forced sponsor agreement with the AML company this thread is about.
On topic: SP dipped under 40p, wow. The 50M from the F1 deal gives them an extra month of cash. I expect some more news around H1 report.
Davil said:
Lots of new and existing customers that, drumroll, actually love the brand.
We do. But some of us aren't convinced that the F1 venture was good for the company. It's a badge stuck on to something else in return for a financial millstone and nobody is going to say 'Wow Aston Martin came 19th so I'll buy a new DB12'.The Aston brand and F1 just don't join up IMHO. There must be better ways to promote it for less.
There is sometimes comment here, that AML's public statements might sometimes be a little confusing.
Here is a cracker by another company.
'Harbour has adopted an updated distributions policy which links shareholder returns directly to free cash flow and strengthens our capital allocation framework across the commodity price cycle. The new policy includes a base dividend and supports deleveraging alongside disciplined investment in attractive organic growth opportunities in the near term. This will underpin future production and free cash flow growth, driving enhanced shareholder returns over time.
After exhaustive investigation, those 65 words have been translated to;
Your next dividend has reduced by 39%.
Simpo Two said:
Davil said:
Lots of new and existing customers that, drumroll, actually love the brand.
We do. But some of us aren't convinced that the F1 venture was good for the company. It's a badge stuck on to something else in return for a financial millstone and nobody is going to say 'Wow Aston Martin came 19th so I'll buy a new DB12'.The Aston brand and F1 just don't join up IMHO. There must be better ways to promote it for less.
Davil said:
Lots of new and existing customers that, drumroll, actually love the brand.
Yes, the existing cutomers on this forum do hate the brand, you are quite right.That's why they waste their time, posting here repeatedly about something they so revile. Probably because they ignore the things they actually love.
They're like those awful parents, who, instead of telling their children "you can do anything you want!" try to warn them that there is something called reality, and that it tends to bite hard.
The nerve.
Davil said:
Oh and yes, the Aston Martin suite was nice in Melbourne the other week. Lots of new and existing customers that, drumroll, actually love the brand.
If you want to get into customer experience and hospitality, it sounds like AML/their dealers are more organised and do it better in Aus. When I bought my first Aston the dealer kindly offered me tickets to a 3-day motorsport event as an introduction to the Aston brand/lifestyle.
Great. Lovely opportunity for MrsLT and I to have a nice weekend away, so arranged a nice hotel.
A couple of weeks prior to the event, long since sold out to the public bar the Sunday (which we might have skipped all or much of due to the very long drive home), I enquired as to the arrangements for tickets. From their response, the offer of general admissions tickets for the Sunday only, one can only assume that they had completely forgotten to make any arrangements whatsoever - a far cry from the weekend admission I d been expecting, or the hospitality package I d hoped they might surprise me with, and not even the day that most people would have wanted.
When I expressed my disappointment they hid behind the vagueness of the original offer.
Quite a contrast to your experience, and maybe not representative, but hardly the way to build on a new relationship. In spite of that, because the car was fantastic, I went on to buy another to sit alongside it.
Overall it sadly turned out to be indicative of some dealer s attitude to customer service (and why I ve long said that AML needs to do more centrally), with another dealer scratching one of my cars and one trying to fleece me to the tune of £tens of thousands on a potential vehicle change. Yet in spite of all that I still own two Astons - if that doesn t show love of the product then I don t know what does.
Unless you are a VIP and part of Q’s VIP list AM centrally appear to do little as LT as said.
Dealers themselves also don’t appear to do that much and if they do and you don’t then buy new shortly afterwards they lose interest in future event invites.
F1 hospitality is not cheap.
That said “my “Dealer has invited me to Salon Prive in the past ( have never been as always clashes with Burghley HT ) and through their Marketing Manager has been really good at organising a few events for the GT8 club.
I was “ invited “ to buy my GT8 and received a private viewing and breakfast at Gaydon.
I have bought 4 brand new Astons ( 3 from the same dealer ) and ran 2 Vantages side by side for quite a few years.
My comparison would be with say Porsche where 6 brand new cars all from the same dealer.
Centrally I was invited to lunch and a meeting with Andreas P at Silverstone after I had placed my order for a 997 GT3.
Dealer wise the DP took me and my son to the Touring cars day at Donnington and arranged a visit to Red Bulls’ F1 factory.
I have also spent a fair bit with Audi ( all from the same dealer ) and no invites to anything.
That said I was happier with the family discount received - my son is a Sales Manager for Audi and yes I have suggested to him that hospitality for Silverstone now that they have got back into F1 would be nice !
My point is I buy and drive the cars I want to not because of the tickets I may or may not get.
Dealers themselves also don’t appear to do that much and if they do and you don’t then buy new shortly afterwards they lose interest in future event invites.
F1 hospitality is not cheap.
That said “my “Dealer has invited me to Salon Prive in the past ( have never been as always clashes with Burghley HT ) and through their Marketing Manager has been really good at organising a few events for the GT8 club.
I was “ invited “ to buy my GT8 and received a private viewing and breakfast at Gaydon.
I have bought 4 brand new Astons ( 3 from the same dealer ) and ran 2 Vantages side by side for quite a few years.
My comparison would be with say Porsche where 6 brand new cars all from the same dealer.
Centrally I was invited to lunch and a meeting with Andreas P at Silverstone after I had placed my order for a 997 GT3.
Dealer wise the DP took me and my son to the Touring cars day at Donnington and arranged a visit to Red Bulls’ F1 factory.
I have also spent a fair bit with Audi ( all from the same dealer ) and no invites to anything.
That said I was happier with the family discount received - my son is a Sales Manager for Audi and yes I have suggested to him that hospitality for Silverstone now that they have got back into F1 would be nice !
My point is I buy and drive the cars I want to not because of the tickets I may or may not get.
alscar said:
My point is I buy and drive the cars I want to not because of the tickets I may or may not get.
As do I, but I see a stark contrast between my experience and those of friends with Ferraris (even those who have never bought new) where they really seem keen to draw you into their world. I am pretty sure that it must work for upselling / repeat selling whilst creating “word of mouth” advocacy that can be far more powerful than raw advertising. LooneyTunes said:
alscar said:
My point is I buy and drive the cars I want to not because of the tickets I may or may not get.
As do I, but I see a stark contrast between my experience and those of friends with Ferraris (even those who have never bought new) where they really seem keen to draw you into their world. I am pretty sure that it must work for upselling / repeat selling whilst creating word of mouth advocacy that can be far more powerful than raw advertising. I assume this is more via their Dealers rather than centrally ?
alscar said:
Unless you are a VIP and part of Q s VIP list AM centrally appear to do little as LT as said.
Dealers themselves also don t appear to do that much and if they do and you don t then buy new shortly afterwards they lose interest in future event invites.
F1 hospitality is not cheap.
That said my Dealer has invited me to Salon Prive in the past ( have never been as always clashes with Burghley HT ) and through their Marketing Manager has been really good at organising a few events for the GT8 club.
I was invited to buy my GT8 and received a private viewing and breakfast at Gaydon.
I have bought 4 brand new Astons ( 3 from the same dealer ) and ran 2 Vantages side by side for quite a few years.
My comparison would be with say Porsche where 6 brand new cars all from the same dealer.
Centrally I was invited to lunch and a meeting with Andreas P at Silverstone after I had placed my order for a 997 GT3.
Dealer wise the DP took me and my son to the Touring cars day at Donnington and arranged a visit to Red Bulls F1 factory.
I have also spent a fair bit with Audi ( all from the same dealer ) and no invites to anything.
It's an interesting one. As a dealer or manufacturer, with £x to spend on pampering customers, do you spend it on those who've already bought cars from you and are likely to buy more anyway ('reward'), or do you spend it on prospective customers instead, in the hope of getting an extra sale? ('incentive'). I suppose in the latter case the risk is that you end up with a queue of fake potential customers only out for freebies.Dealers themselves also don t appear to do that much and if they do and you don t then buy new shortly afterwards they lose interest in future event invites.
F1 hospitality is not cheap.
That said my Dealer has invited me to Salon Prive in the past ( have never been as always clashes with Burghley HT ) and through their Marketing Manager has been really good at organising a few events for the GT8 club.
I was invited to buy my GT8 and received a private viewing and breakfast at Gaydon.
I have bought 4 brand new Astons ( 3 from the same dealer ) and ran 2 Vantages side by side for quite a few years.
My comparison would be with say Porsche where 6 brand new cars all from the same dealer.
Centrally I was invited to lunch and a meeting with Andreas P at Silverstone after I had placed my order for a 997 GT3.
Dealer wise the DP took me and my son to the Touring cars day at Donnington and arranged a visit to Red Bulls F1 factory.
I have also spent a fair bit with Audi ( all from the same dealer ) and no invites to anything.
Simpo Two said:
It's an interesting one. As a dealer or manufacturer, with £x to spend on pampering customers, do you spend it on those who've already bought cars from you and are likely to buy more anyway ('reward'), or do you spend it on prospective customers instead, in the hope of getting an extra sale? ('incentive'). I suppose in the latter case the risk is that you end up with a queue of fake potential customers only out for freebies.
Totally. I suppose the easy answer is it’s possibly a combination balance of the two and no doubt more data that manufacturers keep to back this up.
With my new Dark Horse Mustang the only invite thus far has been one to come back in for a recall
alscar said:
Yes I agree - Ferrari by all accounts do tend to make the whole customer experience ( both pre and post purchase) much more special.
I assume this is more via their Dealers rather than centrally ?
Done right, the two are almost one and the same.I assume this is more via their Dealers rather than centrally ?
If dealers don't see the need to build brand loyalty/advocacy they won't spend the money on it.
If a brand doesn't give dealers sufficient margin and set an expectation that they'll use a chunk of that to build brand loyalty/advocacy then they can't/might not spend margin on it.
Obviously there are some big ticket events that can only be laid on centrally, but then it becomes a team effort.
The thing is, it's not just about "free" stuff: it's indicative of the mindset within AML which translates, as I've said previously, to situations like the atrocious failure to leverage the existing customer base when launching DBX.
LooneyTunes said:
Done right, the two are almost one and the same.
If dealers don't see the need to build brand loyalty/advocacy they won't spend the money on it.
If a brand doesn't give dealers sufficient margin and set an expectation that they'll use a chunk of that to build brand loyalty/advocacy then they can't/might not spend margin on it.
Obviously there are some big ticket events that can only be laid on centrally, but then it becomes a team effort.
The thing is, it's not just about "free" stuff: it's indicative of the mindset within AML which translates, as I've said previously, to situations like the atrocious failure to leverage the existing customer base when launching DBX.
Yup wise words. If dealers don't see the need to build brand loyalty/advocacy they won't spend the money on it.
If a brand doesn't give dealers sufficient margin and set an expectation that they'll use a chunk of that to build brand loyalty/advocacy then they can't/might not spend margin on it.
Obviously there are some big ticket events that can only be laid on centrally, but then it becomes a team effort.
The thing is, it's not just about "free" stuff: it's indicative of the mindset within AML which translates, as I've said previously, to situations like the atrocious failure to leverage the existing customer base when launching DBX.
I think too that another issue for AM is still the attitude of their dealers in terms of still grasping on to the concept that money doesn’t matter and their customers are all so wealthy and “uninterested “in money.
alscar said:
Yup wise words.
I think too that another issue for AM is still the attitude of their dealers in terms of still grasping on to the concept that money doesn t matter and their customers are all so wealthy and uninterested in money.
Aye, it matters massively that they understand that luxury cars are discretionary purchases, especially when interest rates and depreciation are high.I think too that another issue for AM is still the attitude of their dealers in terms of still grasping on to the concept that money doesn t matter and their customers are all so wealthy and uninterested in money.
In fact it probably matters more to Aston where, with a slightly more mature-minded customer base, there are few going to get themselves worked up into a frenzy about being the first to have / needing the latest big thing. And if someone does decide they want to spend, there's a lot of competition for that money (not just other cars).
It also matters that they realise that the actual cost is often much higher than the sale price due to the need to maintain domestic harmony. I've lost count of the number of horses / holidays bought as a consequence of ordering new cars.
Aston customers also largely the same people hit with (and seemingly based on the "money is inconsequential to them" type thinking) with the likes of Labour's ongoing war on wealth, increased property taxation, etc...
Ultimately people want to feel good about parting with the money and a good vs crappy brand experience can make the difference between doing it and not. I had expected that Stroll would have understood this but I guess the products he was accustomed to perhaps weren't quite high end enough?
LooneyTunes said:
Ultimately people want to feel good about parting with the money and a good vs crappy brand experience can make the difference between doing it and not. I had expected that Stroll would have understood this but I guess the products he was accustomed to perhaps weren't quite high end enough?
Handbags are bit easier to make and sell than cars...I looked up LS on Wikipedia...
'According to Forbes, he has a net worth of US$3.9 billion, as of March 2024'. I was going to say he could easily pay off AMLs deft but in fact that's £1.5bn which would be half his savings gone.
'Stroll has a large car collection mostly consisting of Ferraris, including a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO, a 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, and a 1967 Ferrari 330 P4. He used to own the Ferrari dealership of Quebec. He also owns other cars such as a 1996 McLaren F1 and a Ford GT.'
There's no sign of him owning an Aston Martin.
Simpo Two said:
I looked up LS on Wikipedia...
There's no sign of him owning an Aston Martin.
You may want to dig a bit deeper rather than reply on Wikipedia to support your jaundiced viewpoint.There's no sign of him owning an Aston Martin.
LS owns more Astons than you may think.
Here's one he had restored to as new along with a few other significant ones. You may even see them at Pebble Beach with his name on them!
SpeedRoo said:
You may want to dig a bit deeper rather than reply on Wikipedia to support your jaundiced viewpoint.
No jaundice involved, I simply typed 'How many Aston Martins does Lawrence Stroll own?' and nothing in the first page of results suggested he had any.You could edit Wikipedia to make it more accurate.
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