seems like they're losing...

 

They're having one-two punch, unfortunately. Worldwide car sales with economic uncertainty, especially in Britain. I was in the UK last week (unrelated to cars) and businesses are beginning to move out, kind like they are moving out in high taxed US states, like CT, NY... My gut is telling me, some banking will move out from the UK and move the Frankfurt where it is more stable. So economically it is headwinds for all Brit businesses. But who knows, I wish them all the best.

 

Seems like a few are already half through writing AM's obituary.

If an automotive group bought AM, which one would you like to see take the reins? Geely, Ford, Tata, VW, Mercedes, etc?

 

Unlike most, I have confidence in Andy and his exec team. So still optimistic this can be sorted out. Just very strong global headwinds. Plus having (too?) much loyalty to brand.

Who would have thought the Urus would double Lambo sales for 1 H 09. More sold SUVs than Huracan and Aventador.

Hope same for DBX. China and ME is wild card too.

 

Porsche Cayenne and Macan saves Porsche

 

Here is an interesting article

https://carbuzz.com/news/porsche-911...-vantage-sales Porsche 911 Is Destroying Aston Martin Vantage Sales

 

Probably worse when Ferrari announces their Portifino coupe later this week. Front engine Ferrari - rumors 200K.

Could be wrong, the DBX price point of 200K is uphill for AML. Too much competition. Other than apparently a great Aston style, it’s a Merc drivetrain and electronics.

I suspect major shake up at AML top soon.

 

I agree with your points above.

The current leadership team's strategies failed. They released new cars at the very high end of the market that won a very small number of new customers (e.g. new DBS and Valkyrie) but managed to turn off new and old customer bases with their volume sellers (e.g. new Vantage, DB11 and this DBX). So they initially made more sales but in the end and long term, they lost. To be successful, they needed to get their volume sellers right.

I wish the new Vantage was more compelling of a car but unfortunately it is not. For entry to the brand, the looks were too controversial and the technology on the car is too old when compared to its Porsche and Ferrari rivals in the market (e.g. no dual clutch, old mercedes infotainment).

As mentioned earlier, the Portofino and 911 are very compelling at their price points. The vantage does not fit well between the two and ends up losing both markets.

Too bad as they could have made an impact by making the car better looking by copying the DB10 more and releasing the manual earlier. Lowering the price would've helped but now since they aren't selling, the market is doing that for them and offering heavy discounts. It will be the same for the DBX as the price point is too high for its category.

Hopefully the new leadership team understands the mistakes that were made and corrects course.

 

I'll echo spyder's comments and this situation was all too predictable. The BOD should fire Palmer immediately and bring in a real CEO, if not AM will not survive independently and will be bought by Merc in 2022. The DBX will not be able to save AM. The DBX exterior photos don't look promising and the interior dash photo looks like a big vagina....all in a $200K+ market with great options from Lambo, Bentley, Porsche. The world economy is generally good and if Palmer can't run a company successfully in this market he is clueless...

I'll give Palmer some free advice for the 2021 MY...1) replace Vantage front and rear end...something like the Revenant photo. 2) make an entry level Vantage model for $120K base and an "S" model for $135k (ie like prior models). 3) offer a loyalty program to current AM owners...free 3yr maintenance as an example. Longer term...fix the vantage interior to something more elegant and not look like a Subaru.

Time will tell...I wish AM the best...

 

Yeah, exactly! I'd scratch the current DB11 and simply replace it with the DBS keeping DB11 pricing - that would be competitive. Requiring an annual inspection (almost $2K when my wife's USED M235i has ALL services covered till 2022 including brakes at no charge) is a bit much. What's insulting is in the past no arguing, they just fixed things under warranty, now it's a bit tedious and tiring, and quite frankly insulting. It's a miracle Palmer is still in charge - what's up with that? My 2017 V12S purchase was the absolute worst experience I've had buying any product of any type in my entire 67 years breathing. Beverly Hills Aston Martin was condescending, insulting, they did not pay for my plates, taxes, and registration, even though I paid for it. When they did eventually reimburse me, their check bounced! All the while I was copying AM USA and in the UK....After all of that when the shipper did not get paid for their 1/2 - they said I did not pay shipping! I had to deal with that one also. Aston Martin USA did NOTHING to rectify it, and I got the equivalent of a $400 settlement from Beverly Hills AM and eventually after going through all of that pain, an apology, but not from the owner. The car was delivered with glass keys not operable - Aston put me in the middle between Morries and Beverly Hills. A piddly key reprogramming Aston REFUSED to pay for on a V12S that was delivered with 160 miles on the car. Would that have happened before Palmer took the reign? I seriously doubt it, having Astons over the past 30 years. My Sahara Tan interior seat leather dye is rubbing through (only 5K miles) - I seriously doubt they will do anything, but this spring I'll deal with it through warranty.

 

I've been looking for a Aston Martin DB9 GT Volante that's the right specification and this Aston Martin part of the forum seems to show they aren't in line with the quality or service of other brands, though Bentley support was polite they only have two guys in the US and didn't see much support until the 6th failed dealer repair required a tech to be flown to the US. I agree AM isn't competitive in my opinion the new Bentley Continental GT V8 Convertible hands down in my book beats the DB11 Volante. I prefer the looks of the DB9 and Vanquish to the current AM but the Vantage looks horrible to me. The DB10 is what it really needed to look like and the interior is bland and outdated from the start. The DB9 interior is dated and not highly functional but it looks great. The only good thing is the due to harsh depreciation and poor sales the Vantage and DB11 have very inflated residual values and large discounts making it a great lease even sub 1% with 0 cap cost reduction. If Mercedes bought Aston Martin it might not be a bad thing like what BMW and VW did for their British brands. I'd rather get a AMG GT rather than a Vantage.

 

I don't get that as a take away from this forum. Any marque forum is usually full of just negative stories. A forum full "no issues" threads gets boring real quick.

 

+1

Also to respond the previous post about bad experiences with AM Americas and O'Gara.

I am surprised your concerns were not resolved as they should. I actually loathe dealing with O'Gara. Would have opposed getting the car there to begin with even if they throw in a McLaren for free.

Not sure why AM Americas didn't step up.

I have zero bad experiences with AM Americas or AM UK. Everyone I dealt with has been superb. Hospitality, AMR, warranty support, customer service etc. Even corresponded and met Palmer himself. All the concerns and feedback I had provided were dealt with proper satisfaction. I was even invited to attend RBR F1 hospitality a couple of weeks ago!

 

Yeah, my experiences with Aston Martin have been nothing short of phenomenal. I've never had a brand make me feel more valued as a customer, and as someone who literally works in CRM, I can say that I'm not aware of another company that does it better.

And the quality of my '15 Vantage is top-notch. The few fit-and-finish problems I had were all resolved under warranty, and I've had exactly zero mechanical issues with the car. As stated, basing your opinion on a forum where people go for help with issues will only give a biased perception of reality.

 

My experiences used to be great - but with a V12S that Aston Martin owned and did not disclose it's history passed off as Timeless Certified, the awful experience I had with Beverly Hills Aston Martin, and they basically did nothing but dispute piddly things that anyone would have not questioned under warranty, this new Ferrari is lookin awful attractive:

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/f...r-138994.html#