2008 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster on 2040-cars

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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.

Aston Martin drops Fisker lawsuit, Thunderbolt will not be produced

If you were perhaps looking forward to getting your hands on one of Henrik Fisker's Project Thunderbolt cars, you're out of luck. In order to quickly resolve a lawsuit from Aston Martin, Fisker has agreed to not produce his one-off take on the Vanquish coupe. Fisker made a splash at this year's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance when he showed Project Thunderbolt. It was Henrik's own take on the already pretty Aston Martin Vanquish coupe, and apparently, the guys and gals in Gaydon didn't take too kindly to Fisker's creation, issuing a lawsuit that "centres on Henrik Fisker's creation and promotion of automobiles that Aston Martin contends infringes Aston Martin's rights, by an improper and unauthorised attempt to exploit and free-ride off them," according to a statement obtained by Autoblog last month. In a new statement issued Wednesday, the two parties have agreed to resolve their differences. Aston Martin has agreed to drop the lawsuit so long as Fisker does not produce his Project Thunderbolt coupe. So, sorry, Fisker fans. The official statement is pasted below. On March 26, 2015, Aston Martin filed a lawsuit against Henrik Fisker and other parties alleging various infringements by "Project Thunderbolt" of Aston Martin's intellectual property rights. The parties are pleased to report that they have been able to swiftly and amicably resolve their differences. The terms of the resolution are confidential except that the Parties wish to confirm 3 points: 1. Henrik Fisker has decided that "Project Thunderbolt" will not be produced; 2. Aston Martin will withdraw the lawsuit; and 3. In view of some apparent misunderstandings surrounding reports of the case, the Parties wish to expressly confirm that the contentions made by AML were those, and only those, made in the lawsuit. The Parties confirm that that they have amicably resolved those matters, as well as any attendant misunderstandings. The Parties will not be commenting further.

Aston Martin 'Goldfinger' DB5 continuation cars' gadgets revealed

Awhile back, Aston Martin announced that it would create some Aston Martin DB5 sports cars that replicate James Bond's car in the movie "Goldfinger." What really got our attention was that Aston Martin intended to give it functional gadgets. The company has finally provided a list of the details it intends to replicate, along with some samples of progress, and it's all quite impressive. The list of functional or semi-functional gadgets that will be included is extensive. About the only thing that won't operate is the passenger ejector seat, which is completely understandable. Otherwise, the car will have rotating license plates, extending bumper rams, an oil slick system, smoke screen generator a simulated radar screen in the center stack, switches under the armrest and shift knob and a weapons storage tray under the seats. Under the semi-functional list are the machine guns and raising bullet shield. We say semi-functional because the machine guns don't actually fire anything, and we doubt the bullet shield should be put to the test. The company also released video showing the progress on the smoke screen, oil slick and machine guns. The oil slick is easily the most impressive, as the dispenser deploys from behind the taillight and sprays in the same fan pattern from the movie. And it very clearly will spray liquid, though actual oil spray is probably inadvisable in real life. The machine gun, while not actually firing shots, is still impressive to see. It deploys from behind the turn signals, and it lights up and recoils in a very convincing manner. The smoke screen is less impressive after all this, but it still looks true to the movie, since it appears it will send smoke out the tailpipe. This car is turning out to be the ultimate piece of Bond memorabilia with its shockingly realistic and well-integrated gadgets. So we're inclined to agree with our West Coast Editor and resident Bond expert James Riswick that this is totally worth the 2.75 million pound price tag. And if you don't agree, you may find the Lego DB5 model more acceptable.