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Aston Martin stock price shaken and stirred by latest weak outlook

Aston Martin warned its 2019 profits would almost be cut in half due to weak European markets, sending its shares sharply lower as rivals Bentley and Rolls-Royce powered ahead. Tuesday's downgrade is the latest from the British luxury carmaker, whose shares have now plunged about three quarters in value since their 2018 listing. The 107-year-old firm, famed for being fictional agent James Bond's brand of choice, cut its forecast for wholesale volumes and profit margins in July, and reduced its volume forecast again in November. It has blamed weak UK and European markets and subdued demand for its Vantage model and said on Tuesday those conditions continued through December, leading to a 7% drop in wholesale volumes for 2019. "From a trading perspective, 2019 has been a very disappointing year," Chief Executive Officer Andy Palmer said, as the company's shares plunged as much as 16%. While Aston spent 2019 ploughing money into a new factory to build its first SUV, the highly lucrative market a number of carmakers have entered, rivals such as BMW-owned Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen-owned Bentley appear one step ahead. Bentley on Tuesday said its Bentayga SUV boosted the brand's performance in 2019 as it returned to profitability, while Rolls-Royce's Cullinan helped drive a 25% increase in sales to an all-time high of 5,152 vehicles. "Cullinan has proven to be an outstanding hot seller for the brand," Chief Executive Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes told Reuters. "We are sitting now on an order bank reaching even far into 2020." Aston hopes its first SUV, the DBX, will emulate this success and revive its fortunes next year. About 1,800 orders have been booked since its launch in November, the company said. "The order rate is materially better than any other car that we have ever launched before," Palmer told Reuters. For 2019, Aston expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 130-140 million pounds ($171 million to $184 million). The company reported 247.3 million pounds in core profit a year earlier, while analysts' average forecast was 196 million pounds for 2019, according to a company-compiled consensus. Aston said it was also in talks with investors for a potential equity investment and would draw down $100 million in bond notes. Its shares, which have lost nearly 3 billion pounds in market value since their listing, were down 11.1% to 464.8 pence at 1136 GMT.  

Aston Martin DB10 spied in action on James Bond Spectre set

Spectre, the next film in the James Bond franchise, is due for release on November 6 of this year. That means there's filming happening right now all over Europe as scenes are stitched together, and one of them involves the Aston Martin DB10 shuffling through maneuvers at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. Our guess is that Bond has become an unwelcome guest at a fancy event – there's a Porsche 959 and a Bugatti EB110 in the courtyard – which is why he is forced to make one of his quick-reversing escapes under fire. While that was being captured last week, the Spectre production crew put together another behind-the-scenes clip from filming in Austria, which gives us a look at the Range Rover Sport SVR and Land Rover Defender "Bigfoot" crushing it up some snowy mountain passes. That clip is below. Yes, we're excited. News Source: L Verse Studios via YouTube, Motor Trend TV/Movies Aston Martin Land Rover Coupe SUV Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance Videos spectre aston martin db10

Aston Martin reveals Vantage GTE art car for Le Mans

The Gulf livery is undoubtedly one of the most iconic in all of motorsport, but at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, Aston Martin will be running an altogether more original color scheme. Looking like something between a television test pattern and a 3D projection viewed without the requisite glasses, the livery is actually designed as an optical illusion, to distort perception and trick the eye into thinking the car is moving even when it's sitting still. Of course it still features the unmistakable Gulf logos, and is made up of alternating bars of orange, yellow, blue, and black. It's the work of German artist Tobias Rehrberger, renowned for his abstract experimental art, and will appear on the #97 Vantage GTE this coming weekend when the famous endurance race gets under way in Western France. ASTON MARTIN UNVEILS REHBERGER VANTAGE GTE - Aston Martin Racing unveils 24 Hours of Le Mans art car - Design revealed to racing fans in Le Mans town centre - Unique effects on Vantage GTE created by artist Tobias Rehberger 8 June, Le Mans: Aston Martin Racing is today unveiling a 24 Hours of Le Mans art car designed by artist Tobias Rehberger. The unique creation gives the Gulf #97 Vantage GTE the illusion of movement and speed, even when static. Rehberger is renowned for his abstract art and optical effects that distort perception and has received numerous international prizes and awards, including the Golden Lion for best artist at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Aston Martin Racing invited him to design a livery that would work with the Gulf Vantage GTE's lines and colours in a way never attempted before. Thirty years since the first art car ran in the 24-hour race, Rehberger set out to create a design that uses geometric shapes and patterns to give the car, when static, the impression of movement and speed. The German artist, who will attend Saturday's race as a guest of Aston Martin Racing, explained: "My design for the Aston Martin art car is rooted in my interest in distorted perception and related phenomena like auto moving patterns, optical effects, camouflage and visual confusion, which I have addressed in many works before. "In this case, the design is based on a geometric optical effect pattern.