Stroll looks to build brand as Aston Martin losses mount

The new executive chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda says he is “excited” about the future of the luxury car maker, despite revenues falling by over a half and losses escalating during the three months to 31 March.

During its first quarter, revenues fell to just £78.6m, a 60% drop from £196m in 2019, while losses widened dramatically, from £3.2m to £76.7m.

Earlier this year, Aston Martin completed an equity capital raise of £536m; placing of 25% of equity to Lawrence Stroll-led consortium for £171m and a rights issue raising £365m.

Despite this morning’s announcement, Stroll remains upbeat about the future.

He said: “While in the short-term, as anticipated, we will have some difficulties due to the onset of COVID-19, having been in the business for a few weeks now I am even more enthusiastic and confident in the multi-year plan that we have set out to bring new and exciting products to market to drive demand and build the Aston Martin brand.

“My immediate priority is to rebalance supply and demand, reducing dealer stock. Although nearly all our dealers are compromised and our factories were closed, we are focused on achieving results and delivering our plan. We have made very good progress very quickly, with dealer inventory down 428 units in just one quarter, more than double the level achieved in the whole of 2019.”

Stroll said that Aston Martin’s DBX remains on track for deliveries in the summer and has a strong order book behind it extending into 2021.

He added: “Based on these successful initial orders for DBX, we plan to unveil future derivatives starting from 2021. Development of our range of mid-engined cars, descended from the era defining Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar, continues along with refreshes of our core sports car models.

“From next year we will also have the great benefit of our own highly competitive Works Formula One team – giving us a significant global marketing platform to further strengthen our Brand and engage with our customers and partners across the world.

“We will progressively re-energise our marketing initiatives and programmes in our major markets as they emerge from the first phases of the COVID-19 environment. We are focused on building on the company’s inherent strengths, its brand, its engineering prowess, and the skills of its people to enable Aston Martin to become one of the pre-eminent luxury car brands in the world.”