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Aston Martin not actively pursuing new investors as opens SUV plant

ST ATHAN, Wales — Aston Martin, which was reported this week to be the target of Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, said it was not actively pursuing new investors on Friday as it opened a new factory to build its first sport utility vehicle. As some in the global car industry turn to partnerships, alliances or mergers to handle the challenge of electrification, new technology and tighter margins, Autocar magazine reported on Thursday that Stroll, the owner of Formula One team Racing Point, is preparing to buy a major stake in Aston. "You know what we would have to do if there was an official approach. Beyond that, I can't comment," Aston's chief executive Andy Palmer told Reuters at the factory opening, referring to rules governing publicly-listed companies. "We're certainly not actively soliciting any other participation. That's not to say it doesn't come," he said when asked whether Aston needed a new investor. The British automaker's new factory in south Wales holds the key to ending a poor performance this year from Aston, whose shares have tumbled 75% this year on weaker-than-expected sales. In August, Aston's biggest investor, Strategic European Investment Group, bought an extra 3% stake in the 106-year-old company, whose second largest shareholder is a Kuwaiti investor. Last month Aston, which floated in October 2018, launched its DBX model, hoping that more female buyers will help boost sales after posting a pre-tax loss of 92.3 million pounds ($118 million) for the first nine months. It hopes its new factory, in St Athan, near Cardiff, will help turn around its fortunes. The plant is its second alongside its historic one in Gaydon, central England. As the autos sector consolidates through deals such as the merge of Peugeot and Fiat, Aston has said it does not need to belong to a bigger automotive group, pointing to the success of stand-alone rival Ferrari. Palmer said the small stake held by Germany's Daimler allows Aston to have access to technology and benefit from the speed at which it can operate independently. "There is a perfectly rational route to success in our current state," he said. Reporting by Costas Pitas.

Aston Martin teases the DBX again ahead of December debut

Aston Martin began the teaser campaign for the DBX two months ago with a 37-second video of the coming crossover on a romp over dirt roads, carousing and drifting through a magenta landscape. The next month brought a dynamic tease, the DBX running up the hill at Goodwood. Now another teaser is out, this one called The Grille, focused on that trademark Aston Martin component. The dreamy vid, laid out like an opening credit sequence for a Bond film, is captioned, "Aston Martin’s first SUV features the iconic DB grille." In case that's not enough to make the connection, the DB11 opens the 41-second clip before eventually transitioning into the DBX. The DBX is built on the same Second Century Architecture supporting the DB11, the SCA also planned to carry the Lagonda's future lineup of electric vehicles. Power will come from the same Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 found in the DB11 and the Vantage. If the horsepower rumors come true, we can expect 503 ponies from the charge, same as found in the 2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S Coupe, and something like 516 pound-feet of torque. The engine being hooked up to a Mercedes electrical architecture helps explain the surfeit of Mercedes-looking switchgear inside the DBX cabin, including what looks like a heavily MBUX-inspired infotainment system. Without stating a figure, Aston Martin makes note of DBX towing capability; the GLC 63 can manage 3,500 pounds, enough for the DBX to pull the required barrow of champagne to Royal Ascot 2020. The reveal is scheduled for December, deliveries to come in 2020 after units roll off the carmaker's new factory in St. Athan, Wales. Production numbers are penciled in for 5,000 units per year. The order book opened over the weekend at Pebble Beach; selling the planned annual production would nearly double the company's annual sales.

Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake finishes a quartet Q would envy

From A to Z in four steps - that being Aston Martin and Zagato, connected by carbon fiber links known as the Vanquish Zagato Coupe, Volante, Speedster, and the now-official Shooting Brake. When the automaker revealed the Zagato Speedster at Pebble Beach in August, the Shooting Brake remained a sketch. Today we get honest, photographic proof of what 99 future owners will soon park in their climate-controlled display spaces. Were it not for the objet d'art reverence paid to a Zagato and the bitsy production run, we'd expect to see the shooting brake frolicking through expensive enclaves just as often as a Ferrari GT4 Lusso. Aston Martin's 580-horsepower V12 provides useful intent up front, a "luxuriously trimmed rear cabin area with tailored luggage" carries its weight in back. In between, driver and passenger revel in a herringbone carbon fiber fascia, anodized bronze dials, quilted leather, and glass-inlay for the double-bubble roof inviting lots of light. The Shooting Brake goes into production next year, alongside the Speedster. As with the first three bijoux, every Shooting Brake has already found a home. When Aston Martin hands the last set of keys to the final buyer, these 325 special editions will mark the close of another chapter in an Anglo-Italian cooperation begun with the 1960 DB4 Zagato. Related Video: