Aston Martin plots production boost
Car output set to double in the next year?
Aston Martin Rapide: frozen
Last year, AM planned to make 5,000 cars but exceeded the figure -- but now it's up against its physical capacity. The bottleneck in production is the alloy tub assembly area, which is currently working flat-out, 24 hours a day, making the heart of the cars. without more investment, there's no way of increasing capacity.
Alternatives include outsourcing production or expanding the factory -- although changing the relatively new facility is an unpopular option due to the damage it might do to the look of the place.
However, all such major decisions -- including the production of the four-door Rapide -- are on ice until Ford's sale of the company has been concluded.
Where would all those cars go? The plan is to sell more outside the firm's traditional markets in the UK, Europe and the USA, especially into China and Russia.
We just have to hope that Aston Martin doesn't make too many cars. While it's an initially attractive option, Aston's boss Ulrich Bez, who's overseen the growth of the company from 1,500 cars a year to its current healthy state, might heed the words of his counterpart at Lamborghini. The Sant'Agata firm's boss said in a feature that we published today: "Once you oversupply, that leads to a vicious circle of discounting at dealers and then the brand is done. Over."
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