I went to my local dealer and said ya got a lot of Astons on the floor and winters coming, so you'll be holding onto what? 15 total cars? He said no, they have 32! The others are in a separate building, which they do when they have too many which looks bad. Given about 10 of them are used, that's a ton of new Astons to get the numbers up. If the design direction was different and more like Porsche keeping true to their markets (Aston no longer being the Gentleman's Sports Car, but going into Bad Boy Racing territory) their sales would have been better. When I pay $150K+ for a car, I'd want the engine to be unique to that company, not a re-skinned version of the AMG (which I really hate to say is a better value than the Vantage). The interiors are a miss-match quandry of different styles that do not come together like the past cars. I think Andy Palmer did take far too many short-cuts and went too far on making Aston his signature (there is no wonder the DB-11 black top on various colors were reminiscent of a Nissan, his previous venture). So when the stock tanks, and dealers sell their overstock for heavy discounts further reducing the brands value, yes that blame would be directly on Andy Palmers shoulders. As far as the Bad Boy Racer market, my past V12S (see previous stories about my 'timeless certified nightmare) is being driven aggressively by it's new owner - just like the marketing of Aston promotes. Needless to say, it has 'warranty' items that are very expensive that are prematurely wearing - and it seems Aston is not exactly coming to the table to support what they are promoting. They have said (it's under a two year extended warranty) that this will be the last time they replace the clutch (which lasted under 9,000 miles). On one hand tracking a car (or driving it as if being tracked) will likely result in more warranty claims than those who drive less aggressive, but most Aston owners I know drive reasonably and baby their cars - more for the elegance, not because they can do 0-60 in 4 seconds or near 200 mph. They buy the Aston (instead of a Ferrari or Lambo) because of the elegance over performance. When a $60K Mercedes E-Class blows away the Aston on technology and interior design 'elegance' that's a huge problem.

That's what Andy Palmer sacrificed. So I have no issue with Jalopnik attack on Andy Palmer - if the company fails and the stock tanks he will be the one who will get the blame.

All I can say, is that when I start my V12S the display says 'Pure Aston Martin' (not Power, Beauty, Soul as in the V8's), so someone at the factory knew the V12S would be the very last of a breed.

 

Is it only the V12's that say that? I could've sworn my V8V also said Pure Aston Martin? I know the Rapide does.

 

Maybe they changed in 2015, but my 2015 V8 GT still said Power Beauty Soul! Anyway the older cars were in fact pure, or as pure as one could expect today.

 

 

I wonder how Porsche's sell in the Winter? Just as a comparrison.

But I wanted to ask where you see the DB11 falling? It's definitely not in the bad boy racer class, it's a GT, it looks like an Aston to me. Yes the nav screen looks stuck on and I've never liked that "floating roof" aspect but in solid colors it's a nice looking car and the DBS is an improvement IMO. The cars do have to evolve and when they have to follow such an elegant classic design as the Vantage and Vanquish that's got to be a tough spot to be in

 

I think the DB11 was a good attempt at the next evolution, but executed not quite right. The interiors are not as elegant as the new Mercedes - just too much going on that does not quite go together. The digital display looks worse than most, not sure why - just looks cheap. That said I've had three Lagondas, all pretty cheap looking displays. But those were 80's cars. The switch gear is nice. The tablet glued on top of the console is awful. The outside has some nice lines - the roof weirdness does it no favors. The wheel wells are too big for the tires - my wife noticed that! All of those things would be easily fixed. The Vantage needs a major overhaul, but I must say they did a nice job filling the wheel wells with a proper sized tire, a fix easily accomplished on the past Aston with third party wheels. I think under a different leadership, and a mid model refresh, the DB11 could be a really competitive car. Looks good in the rag top version also.

 

I tend to agree with most of your analysis. Although I do think the profile of the Wolf is absolutely beautiful, aggressive but still beautiful, it's the front and diffuser extremes that are polarizing. I also find the interior extremely cluttered and such a departure from what we've come to love that it just doesn't fit. The seats feel amazing but don't look near as nice as mine. The door mechanics of how it just floats at any angle, love it. The drive is definitely superior, the power intoxicating no matter what the exhaust note, but as a package there are as many things that detract as attract. Still love that profile and I believe there is a beautiful car in there, I'm not sure corporate shares our views unless lack of sales force their hands though. We know how radical the Valkyrie is so the direction is not toward the old credo of restrained British beauty, I'm not sure it's not corporate driver more than the lack of Fisker's magic touch. I don't think anything they're building can't be refined into a very beautiful and still aggressive design, but they're going to have to have the will to do it.

 

Looks like the stock price has been trending up since Oct 24. The Shanghai design center and St Athan's announcements def gave it some needed boosts.

 

I actually wanted to buy stock but my broker said it wasn't available in the US. Anyone have any insight on this?

 

He's trying to protect you from failure.

 

I only want one to put on the wall in the garage :-)

 

I wonder if we can just open up an online trading account in UK instead?

 

 

The stock trades for around 2K USD a share, no?

 

16.10 Britsh Pound or 1,610.00 British Pence... Just lookup AML London Exchange