With an average of only 4,000 units per year sold by Aston Martin, Daimler CEO, Dieter Zetsche stated he does not think Daimler could do any better job of running a 4,000 unit-a-year company than Aston Martin’s management.
Aston Martin catering to a small exclusive market, if swallowed by one of the larger automotive giants, could very well lose its exclusivity and its well established reputation as a high end brand in the automotive industry. It would simply not be in the best interest of Aston to be incorporated into one of the larger automotive corporations.
While Aston Martin has teamed up in a technical partnership with Daimler for the future success of the company, Italian business tycoon Andrea Bonomi, who holds 37.5 percent holdings in the British automaker, stated moving forward it is in Aston Martin’s benefit to have a technical partner for the future success of the company.
With the current business arrangement perfect for both entities, moving forward all parties will benefit through the sharing of technological information, while staying independent of one another. We do however expect this relationship to evolve in coming years. It is very likely this new found partnership could be leading to the beginnings of an Aston Martin crossover, which could involve the next generation Mercedes GL, speculated for release sometime in 2017.
What do you think? Is this new found relationship the beginnings of more to come and do you think a possible crossover could be in development?
Comments
Aston needs a partner. My
Permalink
Aston needs a partner. My guess would be the Chinese company that owns Volvo. I would say Tata, but Aston and Jag overlap and are both pretend British companies. Fiat is going away from this type of model.
This makes absolutely no
Permalink
This makes absolutely no sense. Rolls Royce, Bentley, & Ferrari all cater to a relatively small markets and have lost none of their exclusivity by bring owned by large automotive 'giants'.
I suspect Daimler looked at
Permalink
I suspect Daimler looked at Aston Martin's books and saw exactly what they've said: they can't improve on it, so it would be pointless to purchase it. If the company isn't profitable enough now, on its own, it won't be any better if a larger owner is siphoning off profits. I doubt Fiat is in a position to be buying a company like Aston, but I'm sure they'd love to add it to the portfolio.