Aston Martin Said to Hold Talks With Daimler to Build Luxury
Discussion
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. and Daimler AG are holding talks to extend their cooperation to sport-utility vehicles as the British maker of cars featured in James Bond movies seeks to broaden its lineup, people familiar with the matter said.
Daimler, the owner of the Mercedes-Benz premium-car brand, may share the underpinnings of a new full-size SUV with Aston Martin, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
Daimler agreed last year to acquire a stake of as much as 5 percent in Aston Martin as part of an agreement to share technology with the Gaydon, England-based sports-car maker. Mercedes’s AMG high-performance division will develop V8 engines with the U.K. company for Aston Martin’s next models.
Aston Martin is the only global luxury-auto producer that doesn’t belong to a larger manufacturing group. Following investment firm Investindustrial’s purchase of a 37.5 percent stake, the carmaker laid out plans in 2013 to spend 500 million pounds ($832 million) in the next four years to challenge Volkswagen AG’s Bentley and Fiat SpA’s Ferrari and Maserati.
Talks are in an early stage as the SUV won’t come to market for another three years and the British carmaker is still weighing whether to use its own technology to develop a crossover, one of the people said. Representatives for Investindustrial, Daimler and Aston Martin declined to comment on whether they are considering building an SUV together.
Investindustrial Chairman Andrea Bonomi said last year he wants to expand Aston’s lineup while establishing partnerships to limit development costs.
New CEO
Aston Martin is searching for new chief executive officer after Ulrich Bez stepped down at the end of 2013 following his 70th birthday. The automaker won’t make any final decision on its model strategy before naming a new CEO, one person said.
Aston Martin has a target of boosting annual sales to 7,000 vehicles in 2016 from about 4,000 cars in 2013, with growth propelled by catering to growing demand in Asia, North America and South America, people familiar with the matter said last year. The carmaker may then develop an SUV designed to attract wealthy drivers, the people said.
Maserati and Bentley are among supercar makers developing SUVs to expand in the U.S and emerging markets such as China and Russia, where there’s a growing class of wealthy consumers. Longer driving distances and larger areas of undeveloped land also make SUVs popular in all three countries.
Investindustrial, which sold Italian motorcycle maker Ducati to VW’s Audi division in mid-2012, completed the 190 million-euro purchase of the Aston Martin stake in 2013 and gained management control of the carmaker. Bonomi pledged to remain an Aston Martin shareholder for at least 10 years.
Aston Martin’s other owners are Kuwaiti companies Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co., which bought the U.K. carmaker in 2007 from Ford Motor Co., the manufacturer’s owner for 20 years.
Daimler, the owner of the Mercedes-Benz premium-car brand, may share the underpinnings of a new full-size SUV with Aston Martin, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
Daimler agreed last year to acquire a stake of as much as 5 percent in Aston Martin as part of an agreement to share technology with the Gaydon, England-based sports-car maker. Mercedes’s AMG high-performance division will develop V8 engines with the U.K. company for Aston Martin’s next models.
Aston Martin is the only global luxury-auto producer that doesn’t belong to a larger manufacturing group. Following investment firm Investindustrial’s purchase of a 37.5 percent stake, the carmaker laid out plans in 2013 to spend 500 million pounds ($832 million) in the next four years to challenge Volkswagen AG’s Bentley and Fiat SpA’s Ferrari and Maserati.
Talks are in an early stage as the SUV won’t come to market for another three years and the British carmaker is still weighing whether to use its own technology to develop a crossover, one of the people said. Representatives for Investindustrial, Daimler and Aston Martin declined to comment on whether they are considering building an SUV together.
Investindustrial Chairman Andrea Bonomi said last year he wants to expand Aston’s lineup while establishing partnerships to limit development costs.
New CEO
Aston Martin is searching for new chief executive officer after Ulrich Bez stepped down at the end of 2013 following his 70th birthday. The automaker won’t make any final decision on its model strategy before naming a new CEO, one person said.
Aston Martin has a target of boosting annual sales to 7,000 vehicles in 2016 from about 4,000 cars in 2013, with growth propelled by catering to growing demand in Asia, North America and South America, people familiar with the matter said last year. The carmaker may then develop an SUV designed to attract wealthy drivers, the people said.
Maserati and Bentley are among supercar makers developing SUVs to expand in the U.S and emerging markets such as China and Russia, where there’s a growing class of wealthy consumers. Longer driving distances and larger areas of undeveloped land also make SUVs popular in all three countries.
Investindustrial, which sold Italian motorcycle maker Ducati to VW’s Audi division in mid-2012, completed the 190 million-euro purchase of the Aston Martin stake in 2013 and gained management control of the carmaker. Bonomi pledged to remain an Aston Martin shareholder for at least 10 years.
Aston Martin’s other owners are Kuwaiti companies Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co., which bought the U.K. carmaker in 2007 from Ford Motor Co., the manufacturer’s owner for 20 years.
V12woollie said:
yeti said:
TBH... although a bit shocking at first, that design has actually aged well. With a few tweeks, could have a lot of presence...
Yeti my dear chap, have you been drinking early? That looks like a breeze block!Better looking than a Cayenne
That is an ugly beast.
I can almost get my head around the front but the rear is awful with very poor visibility.
However a SUV will be in the new range no doubt.
I keep banging on about a 4WD sport brake that would look much more attractive.
One has to be pragmatic and acknowledge that AM need to make money and that the range will expand into other areas.
The only other way is to go with the Ferrari / Lambo way and up the prices by 50% and I do not think that will make most on here very happy.
I would expect any new ranges to be 20% more expensive anyway.
I can almost get my head around the front but the rear is awful with very poor visibility.
However a SUV will be in the new range no doubt.
I keep banging on about a 4WD sport brake that would look much more attractive.
One has to be pragmatic and acknowledge that AM need to make money and that the range will expand into other areas.
The only other way is to go with the Ferrari / Lambo way and up the prices by 50% and I do not think that will make most on here very happy.
I would expect any new ranges to be 20% more expensive anyway.
matrignano said:
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. and Daimler AG are holding talks to extend their cooperation to sport-utility vehicles
Talks are in an early stage as the SUV won’t come to market for another three years and the British carmaker is still weighing whether to use its own technology to develop a crossover, one of the people said.
Talks are in an early stage as the SUV won’t come to market for another three years and the British carmaker is still weighing whether to use its own technology to develop a crossover, one of the people said.
Only just read it properly. AM are weighing up using its onw technology?!!!!Yeah right. AM have a 4 wheel drive system?
A 4 x 4 yes okay why not but thats just ugly,,,no like it I'm afraid. 
V12woollie said:
Has the world gone mad? That looks terrible. It seems to have taken its design cues from a loaf tin!
Depends of you want AML to stay in business... The market for that car isn't us, it's the Middle East, Asia and the US. In which case, the more distinctive the better. Can anyone say, hand on heart, that the Cayenne is 'good looking'? Hardly. But you know it when you see it, you know it's badged 'PORSCHE'. That what matters or everyone would just buy a Land Cruiser.
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