Rumour Aston Martin London closing down

[Stark999]

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

[Buster73]

Sad but almost inevitable.

[Jon39]

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

[Simpo Two]

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!

[alscar]

Plus another 11 UK ones if you scroll down beyond A and B .

[Jon39]

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.

[Simpo Two]

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.

Moderator edit: no naming & shaming

[alscar]

I think the word “ clunky “ would be polite as it’s certainly not that user friendly.
Less would indeed be more , it’s not like it would be a long list to simply have in full with one click.

[Jon39]

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.

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.


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[Am197t]

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?

[CloudStuff]

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

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”.

Change the rules, move the goalposts, disincentivise and positively punish innovation until there’s nobody left to tax.

Make it make sense.