Autoblog

Faulty economy or not, top-end luxury purchases are on the rise, and the new owners of Aston Martin are looking to capitalize on the trend. Plans are in place to increase Aston production from 7,000 units in 2007 up to 8,000 in 2008, but the top-luxury automaker's new owners want more. DAR (owns 50% of Aston) business development manager Adham Charanoglu has met recently with Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Daimler with regards to leveraging the Aston Martin brand with high end luxury products. While increasing merchandising revenue from $100m to up to $300m by whoring out the Aston name is nothing to sneeze at, we're mostly interested in the British automaker's conversations with Mercedes.

Charanoglu told Reuters that the two automakers could one day collaborate on everything from platforms to powertrains. It makes sense that Aston is looking to buddy up with another high-end automaker since minority owner Ford will soon be without Jaguar, so development costs could go up if Tata decides to break off ties. We're betting that only the high-end Mercedes products would be included in any partnership, though, as Aston likely won't dip below the $100,000 barrier, and an S-Class-based Aston could give Bentley fits. Rumor has it that Aston has already considered building the Rapide outside of Gaydon, so there's a chance that an Aston Mercedes could be built outside the UK.

[Source: Auto News, subs req'd]

F1 panjandrums have been working all year on a suitable definition of the term "non-constructor." If they can get that done soon, and then figure out how to split F1 income among constructors and non, then Prodrive will officially join the 2008 F1 circus.

McLaren and Prodrive have recently signed a "detailed commercial agreement." However, it is being held up due to a lawsuit initiated by Spyker (and supported by Williams) that is now in arbitration. Spyker, an independent full constructor, has argued that allocation of income should be different for Toro Rosso and Super Aguri, since they essentially "buy" cars from other teams. The outcome of that will affect this year's income disbursements as well as next year's.

It isn't revealed yet just how much collaboration there will be between McLaren and Spyker on the chassis-engine package. Regardless, one just hopes McLaren will have a better experience with them than Red Bull and Honda have had with their respective "junior" teams.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Purchasing a multi-million dollar automaker is a good excuse for not being able to concentrate on other matters, but according to Prodrive's team boss, David Richards, the 2008 Prodrive F1 team is, "perfectly on target."

Richards, who is currently in Bahrain after a business trip to Kuwait, took a few minutes to talk to reporters about the future of Prodrive's F1 efforts and the possibility of running an Aston Martin team in the future.

In short, Richards was mum on drivers, but confirmation about Prodrive's pilots, suppliers and sponsors is due during the British GP in Silverstone. The rumors of late include an engine and chassis provided by Ferrari, McLaren or Renault.

As for an Aston Martin team, Richards downplayed the idea, but gave the impression that something may come to fruition in the future.

[Source: TSN]

Now that Ford is no longer in control of Aston Martin, AutoCar had a chat with new AM Chairman David Richards about the future of the no-longer-as-exclusive, but still very expensive British car maker. Richards made clear that Ulrich Bez is still very much in charge of day to day operations at Aston, and he represents the owners and helps plot strategy. The company that produced only a few hundred cars a year as recently as fifteen years ago is now closing in on five figure annual sales.

To help achieve that, a replacement for the Vanquish that's based on the DBS (above) that appeared in the last James Bond movie will be in production soon. Likewise, the four-door Rapide should be ready by 2009. The DB in Aston's model names stood for former owner David Brown, who rescued the company in the 1950s. Apparently Richards is not keen on the idea of changing the nomenclature to reflect his own initials, so future models will still be named for Mr. Brown.

[Source: AutoCar]

The deal is done, and it happened exactly the way everyone expected it to. Ford Motor Company has sold Aston Martin to a consortium led by Prodrive founder David Richards, Aston Martin collector John Sinders, and Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co, two international investment companies headquartered in Kuwait. The sale price is for $925 million, and Ford will retain a $77 million stake in the sports car maker, which pegs the brand's worth at just over $1 billion which means Ford will actually get only $848 million for Aston Martin. Ford sounds pleased with the deal in the press release it issued this morning, stating Aston Martin is better off with a company that offer it more capital to work with. The deal is scheduled to hit the balance sheet in the second quarter, which means we might be seeing Ford temporarily in the black then because of this one-time special gain.

[Source: Ford]

The Detroit News just reported that the winning bid for Aston Martin might be a little lower than we originally thought. The group of investors led by Prodrive's David Richards is about to close the deal for about £450 million ($870 million). That's a full 10 percent lower than we just reported yesterday. The £500 million guess would have been half of Ford's initial asking price for the British luxury sports car maker. Whatever the final price, we still believe Ford will keep an interest in Aston Martin, as it is A-M's number one parts supplier. Also, Ulrich Bez should stay on as chief, despite having submitted his own bid for the company.

As the company already running the racing team for Aston-Martin, Prodrive would consolidate management and ownership of the company's headquarters, research and production facilities in Gaydon, England. Aston Martin is a small but valuable marque that has links to not only racing prowess, but to James Bond, as well. That image is priceless to some and apparently worth about $870 million to others.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Coming out of Geneva along with the exodus of automotive journalists are reports that a sale of Aston Martin is imminent, and that the likely winning bid has come from a consortium headed by Prodrive founder David Richards. The expected bid is rumored to be around $965,800,000 (£500,000), or about half of what Ford Motor Co. was hoping to get for its most premium of brands. Ford is expected to retain an interest in Aston Martin since it's still the brand's number one supplier of parts, and current chief Ulrich Benz, who himself submitted a bid to own the brand he runs, should remain in his position for the time being.

Despite the lower than hoped for selling price, Ford is reportedly pleased to have found a new owner with experience in the auto biz and an already-established connection to the Aston Martin brand. Prodrive runs Aston Martin's racing team and has been connected with the automaker in one way or another for many years, so the purchase indeed seems like a good fit. We'll let you know when word comes that the sale is final, which is expected before the end of the week.

[Source: Daily Telegraph via GMInsideNews]

To no-one's surprise, the FIA announced Friday that Prodrive will join the existing 11 teams for the 2008 championship.

According to FIA President Max Mosley, Prodrive was selected as the 12th team because "Prodrive has the best combination of financial backing, technical capability and motorsport experience... Also, Prodrive's chief executive, David Richards has experience as a Formula One team principal."

In addition to the 11 existing teams, the FIA received applications from new teams vying for the 12th and final entry. Despite the heightened level of interest in Formula 1, Mosley indicated that the FIA were unlikely to increase the number of teams beyond the current limit of 12.

When asked about the newest team's plans, David Richards said, "An entry is just the beginning. We now have less than two years to build a team and put two competitive cars on the starting grid for the first race of the 2008 championship."

[Source: FIA, Prodrive]