No Reserve Always Garaged Mint Owned By 72 Yr Old Banker Perfect Carfax on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Aston Martin CFO departs as stock hits a record low, losses deepen

LONDON — Aston Martin shares slumped to a record low on Thursday after the British luxury carmaker said its losses ballooned last year and its chief financial officer would leave by the end of April. The firm, famed for being fictional agent James Bond's car of choice, posted a pretax loss of 104 million pounds ($135 million) last year compared with 68 million pounds in 2018 following a 9% decline in sales to dealers. Aston Martin is in the midst of restructuring after announcing last month that a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll would buy up to 20% of the company and existing shareholders would inject more cash. Its shares, which were listed in October 2018, have been on a steady downward trajectory ever since and hit a record low of 328 pence following the announcements on Thursday, more than 80% lower than their flotation price. "The big difference between last year and this year is the strength of the balance sheet," Chief Executive Andy Palmer told Reuters. "We're in a very different place and have therefore an ability to properly ... destock and that means get the balance right between supply and demand." Chief Finance Officer Mark Wilson will step down from his role no later than April 30 but had not been fired, said Palmer. Coronavirus impact China, Aston's fastest growing market, was a rare bright spot last year with sales rising 28% but the company, like the rest of the industry, has seen demand drop due to the coronavirus outbreak. The virus has infected more than 80,000 people and killed about 2,800, the majority in China, confining millions to their homes, disrupting businesses and delaying the reopening of factories after the extended Lunar New Year holiday break. Aston has seen disruption to the arrival of certain parts but said it had not had to stop production at its factories, with components secured until at least the end of March because it has no direct suppliers in China. "Since almost the first weeks of the New Year we've had issues with those Tier 2 and Tier 3 (suppliers) which have meant that our supply chain guys have had to be on it constantly," said Palmer. "We're ironically benefitting from the fact that we built up a Brexit stock," he said, in a reference to extra components the firm held in case Britain's departure from the European Union led to additional delays in the movement of goods.

World's Fastest Gamer prize: Racing Aston Martins around the world IRL

LONDON — Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya is to lead the judging panel for season two of World's Fastest Gamer, a competition aiming to take a virtual racer to the real track for a season with an Aston Martin sports car team. Season one winner Rudy Van Buren, previously a sales manager in the Netherlands, won a year as simulator driver with the McLaren Formula One team. Competition founder Darren Cox said the message coming through from the esports world was that gamers wanted more. "These gamers at the end of the day want to go racing," he said on Wednesday. "So we thought, let's not go against what everyone wants, let's push it and have the real racing as the prize." Cox has plenty of experience of that, having created the GT Academy program that took 23 people from gaming to racetrack with Nissan: "The big prize for the gamers in GT Academy was one race ... this time we're saying we're confident we'll find someone who's good enough and who will do a full season in Aston Martins at the biggest tracks in the world." The winner from 10 finalists — eight of them champions from top motor racing esports series and two separate qualifiers — will become a professional racing driver with Swiss-based R Motorsport, who work closely with Aston Martin. Van Buren will also be racing a full season as teammate to the winner. Cox said the prize of a full season was worth more than $1 million. The circuits will include Monza, Le Castellet, Brands Hatch, Nurburgring, as well as 24-Hour endurance races at Spa-Francorchamps and Daytona. Montoya, who won seven Formula One grands prix with Williams and McLaren, is also a keen online racer and still practices on simulators. Cox said he had started talking to the outspoken Colombian about gaming when they met at Daytona a year ago and he was "fully up for it." "I know the skills between real and virtual are completely transferable, so my job on WFG is to make sure these gamers are hungry and perform under the pressure I intend to put them under," Montoya said.

Xcar weighs in on the five best-sounding modern cars

Getting behind the wheel of a well-balanced vehicle can be a wonderfully visceral experience, thanks to the combined feeling of things like the weight of the steering, the bite of the brakes, and, of course, the roar of the engine. Unfortunately, many of the sensations of driving require actually being in the driver's seat to understand them, but thankfully the intoxicating noise of a beautifully tuned internal combustion engine can be shared with everyone. In a new video, Xcar shares their opinion on the five best-sounding modern performance cars. The list is a symphony of horsepower. As opposed to keeping all of the vehicles brand new, Xcar actually picks a few that are recently off the market. They're all definitely champs, though. While the list itself is well stocked, you might be able to argue with the specific order, and it would be nice to hear a few participants from outside of Europe for a collection like this one, too. No matter. Every listener is sure to find something they like in the bunch, though. Turn up the volume and enjoy.