From Autoblog:

"All is not well in Gaydon, as Aston Martin has reported a 24.6-million pound ($39.3M USD) pre-tax loss, an increase from the previous year's 21.2-million pound – $33.9-million – loss. That, friends, is not good.

Citing a nine-percent drop in sales for its range of sportscars (and a now discontinued city car) and a nearly 50-percent drop since its 2007 peak, AM only managed to bring in 461.2-million pounds ($736.6 million), according to The Telegraph. The official statement from Aston Martin blames a "market segment [which] has been severely affected by recession," with a particular drop in European sales."

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/10/09/a...-pre-tax-loss/

 

Well, halo cars and a "meh" flagship aren't the way to compete in this world.

The volume car (V8V) has remained largely unchanged for nearly 10 years and lags all of its peers in performance numbers. Like it or not, performance numbers matter when you are building and selling what sure looks like a performance car. Heck, even Bond doesn't bother driving a new Aston Martin anymore. Some may scoff at the pop culture, movie reference but Bond is no small part of the brand and appeal of the Gaydon Astons.

I hope AM has enough time to make it to the new AMG source powered models. I also hope the next gen Vantage (or whatever the volume car is called) is a class leading home run. Yes, the current V8V S and the V12V are impressive cars, but to most people they don't look like a new car worth the sticker price. It's too easy to buy a barely used one that looks exactly like the new one.

If this problem is because of a soft Euro market, have F, L, P and other high dollar perfomance marques had similar dips in their sales?

The argument is just getting harder and harder to make that my $150k is best spent on a new Vantage.

 

this +1

every person that asks me about my car asks the same set of questions:
"what kind of car is that?"
"what year is it?"
"what? really? it looks brand new."

you can pick up a V8V used for half the cost of a new one, and 99% of people won't realize it's 5 years old.

 

A few weeks ago the Chevy Dealer called to say they had a Yellow C7 I could get immediately. Since I'm not really on the market now (I am on the list) I passed. A few days ago I was really surprised that the car was still available. This morning I saw it at the Perkins restaurant across the street. I thought no wonder nobody wanted it... yellow is nice but all the vents and this and that is black plastic, looking pretty bad. This brings me to the way I think Vantages have morphed. A Black V12 looks great, any other color, the vents look like a J.C. Whitney add-on. My personal opinion is the front and rear of the new Vantages with the black diffusers takes away from the looks of my 09. I think I'd get the changed panels body color painted at Aston Works if I ordered new. In other words my personal opinion is that the changes in he Vantages do it no favors aesthetically. If the vents were done correctly like the Morgan hood it would be 100% better, and fitting to an exotic. All Vantages should have magnetic shocks as standard. Horsepower is not the only answer - people buy Porsches all day long with near as high a price and less HP. My first Vantage had wood panel and door caps... that should be a known dealer option (for some reason it's an unknown option). Most new luxury cars come with patterned leather - Bentleys, the Virage, and even new Audi's. That should be a no cost option. My first Aston Works wanted an extra $6,000, so I passed. Front - rear parking sensors, blind spot warnings, curb proximity warning, etc., these things would add minimal weight and be nice features. The Nav is pretty worthless, but they fixed that, but the tiny screen is way out of date. I still think the interior is far better than most, although dated. A little more Virage touch might leverage sales. A clutch with somewhat longer life might help. More efficiency also would help sales. The C7 burns 1/3rd less gas - that helps people make the decision to buy new. None of this would be difficult for Aston at all to accomplish (well maybe the 1/3rd less consumption).

 

Sure, all that stuff is easy to achieve . . . if you have the money to redesign the cars to incorporate those things, which Aston doesn't. Let's not forget that Aston is one of the last independent shops out there and isn't owned by a large conglomerate with deep pockets. It's a bit of a chicken and egg problem.

 

Many good points made in your post........C7 looks...love it or hate it......it's a big fat no from me. Their technology is GREAT, but the car is just too clinical for me........OOps, did not mean to hijack this thread..........Only a select few can or want to buy a NEW AM.....the rest of us paupers will have to settle for the used remnants...........OK by me, I am proud to have just had the chance to participate in owning a fine piece of machinery..........

 

I agree with some of what has been said in this thread -- basically that updates are needed. However, I disagree with other comments, including those regarding the Vantage being left far behind in performance terms vs the competition. Aside from the idea that an Aston is about more than performance -- it is, but it's about performance also -- the V8V still fairs quite well, but few seem to realize this as people talk about how fast the 991 is, for example. A manual V8V is VERY close to a 991S manual through a 1/4 mile run -- the speeds are very close, and the Aston doesn't have the rear-engined 991's traction at launch, which favors the Porsche. It's the paddle 'box cars that show more significant differences since PDK shifts much quicker than Aston's SportShift (any generation). Of course, this is something that AM may want to address..

Anyway, I completely disagree that "to most people they don't look like a new car worth the sticker price." I've had my '09 from new, and people still think 1) it's brand new and 2) that it must cost over $200K. They're almost always very surprised to learn that it cost significantly less than that.

 

Agree with most already said. I did order a new V8V and it arrived about 2 months ago. The first thing I did even before delivery to my house was to put the older pre '12.25 front and rear bumpers on it by swapping with another forum member. I too think the new front and rear bumpers are a step backwards. I plan on keeping the car a while so am not worried about resale value of a new Vantage that looks like an '06.

 

Ehhh. I feel your comment is grasping at straws. The 991S is a lot faster than the Vantage or Vantage S, PDK or not. I know I'm in the minority when I say the Vantage is dated and needs an overhaul but let's look at the facts and what the "mass" market want to buy.

1. Technology package. Aston's nav and controls are way behind the competition. Rollup displays are not cool anymore and everything should be powered through the display as opposed to it being a secondary electronic.
2. Automated Manual/DCT. The SportShift is lurchy and does not drive well in automatic mode. To the average consumer this comes across negative and desperately needs an update as the competition are miles ahead.
3. Performance. 420hp is 60k-80k cars now. If you want to sell cars over 100k you need to be 450+ minimum. Basically the V12V meets the performance Aston needs in their base car to compete.
4. The model is basically 10 years old and hasn't really changed outside of accents. It's beautiful as it is, but, as mentioned, you can buy an 06 that looks the same as a 13 to the general consumer eye.

 

1. I think the rollup display is cool (I'm in my mid-20s). The lower-mid 20's women I take on dates in the Aston think it's cool. And if I'm humbly honest, most exotic car drivers are not what most of the world would call "cool". So who's defining "cool" here?

I've used the systems in the competition and I don't think they're any better (I think touch screens are awful for driving).

2. I agree with this. I hated the gearbox in my old Vantage and it was the primary reason I went to a DB9.

4. The general consumer doesn't even know what an Aston Martin is. I've had my Vantage mistaken for a Lamborghini and my DB9 mistaken for a Bentley. The general consumer couldn't tell a rock from a mountain.

No one's "grasping at straws" by defending their brand. I didn't buy two brand new Aston's because I couldn't afford a "better" Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, etc (my DB9 replaced my California). I've driven 12C's, 458's, Gallardos, GTC's and so forth and bought it because I thought it was a better car.

Of course Aston is struggling -- they serve a niche within a niche market, in bad economic times, in an era that is progressively moving towards hybrids/electrics and greater regulation. But they still have appeal to new buyers (like me) and my peers, and that's very promising.

 

+1... But - appeal doesn't sell cars, it just gets you in the door. (Obviously a requisite to purchase)

But when has Aston Martin NOT had difficult times?

I must admit - there fickleness with the Virage has just turned me from the brand that once had VERY highly sought after cars. Their resale value is a good indicator that that has since faded.

 

Yeah but . . . . Aston's competitors aren't struggling like Aston in the same "bad economic times," which aren't actually that bad, incidentally. The economy, the push toward better fuel economy, etc. sound like excuses to me.

And yes, Aston always seems to be struggling, although they did very well when Ford first came in. Makes one wonder if such a partnership could turn things around for them again.

 

Why would anyone buy an Aston Martin for 'performance?' You can buy a 850HP Mustang from Shelby in Vegas for same money if that's your thing - I've been in one of those and nothing can stay with them. But I gave up street racing a long time ago and where I live (Wash DC 'burb) there is so much traffic, one cannot use a 380HP car to full advantage much less a 500 HP one. Go to the track? OK, I do that too - and I dare say a stock Vantage V8V early model with zero mods can't be driven 10/10ths by 80 % of the people on this forum. Put R-Compound tires on it and I'll put that number at 97%. It's a fast car, and extremely capable. But I get the HP number wars.

I know my friend that owns the 850 HP Mustang isn't ever going to drive it like it was made to go - ever - but he can brag about it, and that's OK, too. Here's his car, he's never ran it once wide open (he paid $ 93,000 for this)



The only thing I find 'dated' on my 07 Vantage is some of the electronics - like lack of a USB port and a crude TPS system. But unlike my new 'modern' BMW that is in the space next to it, my Vantage doesn't safety niggle me to no end and will let me move the car with the door open or cracked. The BMW won't and refuses to budge.

As for updating the look....how does one improve on a near-perfect design? It's not easy. I actually prefer the panels on my 07 to the new ones, the more subtle rear spoiler, the red tail lamps, the smooth rocker panels....

I bought an Aston for something I call "the art of the build". I could get a Porsche 991 easily enough (I've had four Porsches) but I know when I take it apart that its got the same plastic push pins holding cheap plastic trim as a Toyota. The Aston has metal screws and metal parts and that's very, very cool. Orange peel is rampant on most cars, but not on the wet-sanded Aston - its a factory 'World of Wheels' paint job, and only Bentley and Rolls do it like that as far as I can tell. When you take this car apart, up the jackstands, and go into places few owners do - you see the quality of the components and art of the build. That's what I get a kick out of, and why I own an Aston. And I hope they keep the production that way and not bow to mass produced methods.

My only real gripe with the car is the cheezy Ford Turn Signal am made of plastic. I mean COME ON....never use an out-of-the bin part that the owner's hand touches every day on every drive. Those should always be custom and feel special on an exotic.

 

Agree, when I get under my DBS I marvel at the attention to detail and design. Sand castings, forgings, extrusions, and die castings everywhere. Not to mention great geometry for handling. It's truly a work of art.

 

Fiat (Ferrari) = $82 billion
VW (Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche) = $245 billion
Aston Martin < $500 million
[net worth in euros]

Comparing Aston's struggle to its competitors is like comparing an apple to a meteor. I think their biggest problems are mismanagement of funds that don't exist (does their marketing and finance department even communicate?) and a lack of larger corporate ownership.

In short, Dr Bez really needs to go.