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Major Aston Martin shareholder cuts stake in British carmaker

A top Aston Martin shareholder cut its stake in the British carmaker by nearly 5%, a regulatory filing showed on Monday. Italian private-equity firm Investindustrial Advisors Ltd disclosed a stake of 14.99% in Aston Martin as of May 29, compared with its previous stake of 19.92%. It was not immediately clear why the fund cut its stake.  Investindustrial is the company's second-biggest shareholder after Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. The 107-year old luxury carmaker in May posted a deep first-quarter loss after sales dropped by almost a third due to the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Aston Martin and the PE firm did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva) Related Video:

'Sylvan Rock' by Aston Martin could be your home for $7.7 million

Aston Martin is known for some of the most gorgeous automotive designs ever produced, but occasionally it lends that expertise to other items. Sylvan Rock, a 55-acre luxury residential resort to be constructed in New York's Hudson Valley in partnership with New York's S3 Architecture, is one such venture. It's also Aston Martin's first collaboration in the design of a private home. Sylvan Rock will be built about 80 miles north of New York City, near Rhinebeck. Calling it a house is underselling it; even the property's own website refers to it as a "compound." It comprises a nearly 6,000-square foot primary residence, three guest "pods," a pool, pool house, tree house and garden. Oh, and yes, there's a three-car garage, but that's not what really sells Sylvan Rock as a driver's home.  "Driving down a bucolic country road, enjoying the curves in the road, you arrive at an unassuming gatehouse entrance to the private driveway. Along the driveway, the property unfolds onto a secluded luxury retreat," the promotional material enthuses. Sounds like a nice little spot, doesn't it? That's straight from the description on the property web site, which is linked above. It has detailed plans and a much larger gallery of rendered images. Here are the quick specs: Residence | 5,983 SF 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 half baths 3 car garage Pool and deck Pool House | 873 SF Three Guest House “Pods” | 1,574 SF Treehouse - Architect designed Food Garden and Trails Total finished spaces in compound: 8,430 SF If you can part with a cool $7.7 million, it could be your new home away from your 17 other homes, provided you can wait until 2022, when construction will be finished. Oh, and if you have another couple hundred grand burning a hole in your pocket, Aston Martin will even throw in a new DBX in matching Onyx Black. Honestly, if you can flash the cash, I'm sure they'll sell you as many cars as you want — or, you know, shares. They'll even throw in a picnic basket for free. Yes, that last part is real.  Featured Gallery Aston Martin Sylvan Rock View 9 Photos Auto News Design/Style Marketing/Advertising Aston Martin Luxury

Kahn Vengeance has Aston Martin's blessing [UPDATE]

Last week we brought you the first renderings of a coachbuilt Aston Martin DB9 called the Vengeance that's being developed by Kahn Design. The emergence of the project raised a valid question: if Aston Martin quashed a similar venture by Henrik Fisker, wouldn't the Kahn Vengeance suffer a similar fate? Not according to Kahn. In a statement released to the press, company spokesman Mo Bhana said that "unlike the David Brown Speedback GT and recent Fisker Thunderbolt that ended in a lawsuit, there are no copyright issues with the Vengeance since Aston Martin has confirmed they have entered into a supply deal with us." The incidents Bhana refers to are over two coachbuilder projects that have come up recently and which have drawn the ire of Gaydon. The first is the Speedback GT developed by David Brown Automotive and assembled by a British coachbuilder called Envisage. The latter company also supplies parts and tooling to Aston Martin, which sued Envisage over concerns that its designs were being misappropriated. Given the resemblance of the Speedback to certain classic Astons, and the use of the name David Brown (which happens to be shared by the Speedback's patron and a key figure from Aston's history), reports began circulating that Aston was suing Envisage over the Speedback project, however David Brown Automotive refuted the allegations. The second was Project Thunderbolt, a rebodied Vanquish designed by Henrik Fisker – the same Danish designer who penned the DB9 and V8 Vantage while serving as Aston's design director before striking out on his own. Despite the former association, Aston objected to Fisker's project, launched a lawsuit against him and only agreed to drop it after Fisker agreed not to produce the Thunderbolt. Given Aston's track record, fearing that it would go down the same path would seem reasonable, but Kahn apparently doesn't expect any such difficulties with its supplier. And the company does, after all, also have a history of collaborating with coachbuilders - most notably Zagato. We've reached out to Aston Martin itself for confirmation and will update you as soon as we hear back. In the meantime, you can ponder the second set of renderings released and which we've included above.