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Aston Martin posts deep quarterly loss as coronavirus pandemic dents sales

LONDON — Aston Martin posted a deep first-quarter loss after sales dropped by nearly a third due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis, though the luxury car maker said production of a crucial sport utility vehicle was on track. Aston Martin, popular for being James Bond's carmaker of choice, suffered a torrid time since it floated in October 2018, seeing its share price tumble from 19 pounds to around 40 pence. Dire conditions forced the company to bring in Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll to invest in the firm, while Aston said it will continue to review future funding and refinancing options to boost liquidity. The pandemic hit demand and forced factories around the world to suspend production. However, Aston resumed operations as its Welsh plant last week but not at its other site located in southern England as yet. "We were obviously fairly significantly hit by COVID-19, starting with China in January but more clearly in what we saw as it came across towards Europe and the United States," Chief Executive Andy Palmer told Reuters. The company posted a pre-tax loss of 119 million pounds ($145 million), compared with a loss of 17 million pounds ($21 million) last year, and said it could no longer provide an annual outlook. Its full-year loss in 2019 came in at 104 million pounds. Shares were down 5% at 36 pence, as of 07:35 GMT on Wednesday. The carmaker said production of its DBX SUV, which is key to boost volumes and appeal to new buyers including more women, was on track and had a strong order book. The luxury brand, which has seen core retail sales slump by an annual 31%, has furloughed staff, introduced additional safety measures and cut the pay of its senior management as part of measures to handle the crisis caused by the pandemic. Stroll, who hopes to pursue a turnaround partly by sharing Formula One technology with the firm's range of road cars, leads a consortium that took a 25% stake in the company earlier this year as part of a capital raise worth 536 million pounds. "Given the ongoing uncertainties, as is prudent, the company continues to review all future funding and refinancing options to increase liquidity," the company said on Wednesday.   (Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by James Davey and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Aston Martin's electric Lagonda lineup to open with a crossover

At the time of the Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin announced it would be re-awakening the storied Lagonda brand to manufacture zero-emission luxury cars. The timeline for these was cast to 2023 at first, but now information has come to light that Lagonda would start selling cars two years earlier, with — you guessed it — an SUV. AutoExpress is reporting that the first model for Lagonda will be a full-electric SUV, which would share some of its technology with the Aston Martin DBX, which might gain the name Varekai when it hits production. Talking to AutoExpress, company CEO Andy Palmer divided the future plans in two: "if it's an Aston, it's probably got a gasoline engine and it's probably got a V-configuration. It might or might not have a hybrid attached to it. But if it's a Lagonda, it's 100 percent electric." Palmer says Lagonda could be able to sell cars via a separate network in the U.K., but that globally the cars would have to co-exist in Aston Martin brand centers. Palmer wouldn't confirm whether the 2021 Lagonda SUV would also be made in the same St. Athan factory as the DBX. The Lagonda sedan was previewed by the swoopy Vision Concept, which Palmer says is "a design study" that focuses on core elements of the Lagonda. Palmer says two key aspects of the concept might not yet be production-ready by 2021: the solid state battery and Level 4 autonomy. The production car should have a realistic range of more than 400 miles, and it should be able to whisk customers away as effortlessly as a chauffeur-driven sedan. View 14 Photos Related Video:

Aston Martin values electric propulsion over downsizing

Not even small-volume manufacturers are being exempt from the automotive industry's pursuit of higher efficiency and lower emissions. At present, that means either electric propulsion (whether in part or in whole) or downsizing conventional engines, and for Aston Martin, the future apparently lines in the former. "I see in our future obviously V12s, V8s and probably battery-electric cars," Aston's CEO Palmer revealed to Autocar. "As time evolves, there's probably an inevitability to hybridisation, simply because, car by car, you can only downsize so much. I'd rather put a hybrid in there than an in-line four-cylinder." So just how does the company envision implementing electric or hybrid propulsion? "Imagine something like a 4x4, 1,000-bhp silent Rapide. I think 'Power, Beauty, Soul' doesn't say it has to be a gasoline engine. It just needs to be really powerful, really beautiful and set your heart on fire," Palmer explained. "I'd argue that 1,000 bhp on the ground would probably do that for you. So that's the route we could go." The British automaker demonstrated the DBX concept with an all-wheel-drive electric powertrain at the Geneva Motor Show a few months ago, and is currently in the process of revitalizing and expanding its current product range. Of course Aston isn't the only high-end niche automaker faced with the decision to either downsize or add hybrid propulsion. Ferrari is taking both approaches, using smaller turbocharged engines in its V8 models and moving towards hybrids with its V12s. Porsche offers an array of plug-in hybrids and is in the process of downsizing and turbocharging its naturally aspirated engines. Pagani switched from a big V12 in the Zonda to a smaller turbo V8 in the Huayra. Bugatti is expected to use electric turbochargers in its Veyron successor. And Lamborghini was recently reported to be considering a turbo five for the Huracan.