Aston Martin going out of business?
Discussion
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/ind...
Hopefully they will secure new financing and avoid seizure... Unlikely they will disappear but Aston is not in good shape... Huge unsold inventory and they are delaying all product development...
Hopefully they will secure new financing and avoid seizure... Unlikely they will disappear but Aston is not in good shape... Huge unsold inventory and they are delaying all product development...
I believe they will be releasing the V12 Vantage and DBS Volante at Geneva....
And what constitutes a "huge unsold inventory"?
I think they've made some mistakes recently - production volumes of the V8V and the release of the 4.7 when they did (though on that one they were somewhat "damned if they did, damned if they didn't"). But they are still making some good cars.
Like every manufacturer, they need to scale back production. Which I believe they are doing.
I guess it then becomes a waiting game to see what happens in the economy. If it were me, I'd probably look at ways to increase revenues away from new car sales for the next 6-12mths. Programmes for customers to "improve" their current cars at *sensible* money levels perhaps (as few people will be keen to sell at the prices out there right now)?
And then moving forwards they need to ensure they keep production under *actual* demand levels rather than meeting or exceeding them. All the "prestige" guys have fallen down that rat hole and residuals are suffering as a consequence (which inevitably impacts new sales) - if anyone thinks F430s, Gallardos, 997s, R8s etc aren't also suffering they are kidding themselves.
Having a good product is only part of the story in this sector, and pinning your business model on larger volumes is silly.
IMO.
And what constitutes a "huge unsold inventory"?
I think they've made some mistakes recently - production volumes of the V8V and the release of the 4.7 when they did (though on that one they were somewhat "damned if they did, damned if they didn't"). But they are still making some good cars.
Like every manufacturer, they need to scale back production. Which I believe they are doing.
I guess it then becomes a waiting game to see what happens in the economy. If it were me, I'd probably look at ways to increase revenues away from new car sales for the next 6-12mths. Programmes for customers to "improve" their current cars at *sensible* money levels perhaps (as few people will be keen to sell at the prices out there right now)?
And then moving forwards they need to ensure they keep production under *actual* demand levels rather than meeting or exceeding them. All the "prestige" guys have fallen down that rat hole and residuals are suffering as a consequence (which inevitably impacts new sales) - if anyone thinks F430s, Gallardos, 997s, R8s etc aren't also suffering they are kidding themselves.
Having a good product is only part of the story in this sector, and pinning your business model on larger volumes is silly.
IMO.
well without cheap finance, silly 125% no money down mortgages etc ...mmmm...the Uk survived just fine and dandy..mmmm.....for all of history 
- its only the last 10 years when things got real crazy, as lenders got greedy, to make more profits
when I was in my teenage years you didnt buy prestige cars unless you had saved up errrr...some real cash, and its people that *really* cant afford flash cars, the "want it/must have it now" generation that have got us into the mess we are in now, a nation of debters and a country in debt
so back to old school is fine with me - all these "luxury" car brands will just be as they were before - making luxury cars for people with funds to buy them, and not banking their business model on selling another 20000-100000 units a year on never, never PCP deals to those with a few hundred quid spare per month
...all IMO of course
//the Aston brand alone is worth billions to any car manufacturer that does stay in business and they would be snapped up by someone ...maybe the Germans - who seem to know how to make a profit, by having 2 " thick option catalogues and controlling supply of their "prestige" brands LOL
- its only the last 10 years when things got real crazy, as lenders got greedy, to make more profitswhen I was in my teenage years you didnt buy prestige cars unless you had saved up errrr...some real cash, and its people that *really* cant afford flash cars, the "want it/must have it now" generation that have got us into the mess we are in now, a nation of debters and a country in debt
so back to old school is fine with me - all these "luxury" car brands will just be as they were before - making luxury cars for people with funds to buy them, and not banking their business model on selling another 20000-100000 units a year on never, never PCP deals to those with a few hundred quid spare per month
...all IMO of course
//the Aston brand alone is worth billions to any car manufacturer that does stay in business and they would be snapped up by someone ...maybe the Germans - who seem to know how to make a profit, by having 2 " thick option catalogues and controlling supply of their "prestige" brands LOL
but what dealers have in stock, is thanks to them ordering them isnt it?
AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
bogie said:
but what dealers have in stock, is thanks to them ordering them isnt it?
AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
No, it's not just up to the dealers. AM (like all manufacturers) have, in the past, forced them into taking an allocation of cars whether they have customers for them or not.AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
The dealers are indeed independant but they are surely intrinsically linked to AM. Once cannot survive without the other.
bogie said:
but what dealers have in stock, is thanks to them ordering them isnt it?
AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
I would imagine AM allocated a certain number of cars to their dealers - so this unsold stock will not be due to the dealer being over ambitious with their projected sales, but due to them not having sold their allocation. This is fairly standard across all manufacturers, they will just distribute their volume and allocate it to the dealer network, these cars will then be specced by customers if sold, or by the dealers if not.AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
With regards to the dealers not ordering the new cars - I wouldn't imagine they have a choice, and again will be allocated whatever cars Aston decides it needs to produce this year. I would imagine AM are helping the dealers by offering support on these unsold cars to try and sell them, or entice the dealers to 'self-register' them as demo's etc. but these old cars are ultimately AM's problem, as I am sure the dealers haven't paid for them yet.
matc said:
bogie said:
but what dealers have in stock, is thanks to them ordering them isnt it?
AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
as I am sure the dealers haven't paid for them yet.AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
whoami said:
matc said:
bogie said:
but what dealers have in stock, is thanks to them ordering them isnt it?
AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
as I am sure the dealers haven't paid for them yet.AFAIK all the dealers are independant from the company - so AM themselves just respond to demand/forecase from their dealers...who also have to buy the cars from them
so if 2500 cars worldwide are sat in car dealers, then its on the dealers head and their cashflow problem
the problem that the factory has, is that dealers are not going to be ordering any new stock until theyve sold the old stuff...so the only cars they are building are built to spec ones for customers rather than dealer stock
so it seems, we have the usual media doom and gloom merchants reporting stuff to try and sell news
the whole procedure of how a dealer orders cars, who pays for them and when, how many cars are sat in Aston Martin dealers worldwide, how much does a car cost a dealer ...in fact, why dont they just make their whole business public knowledge for us to sit here and criticise how its run
bogie said:
the whole procedure of how a dealer orders cars, who pays for them and when, how many cars are sat in Aston Martin dealers worldwide, how much does a car cost a dealer ...in fact, why dont they just make their whole business public knowledge for us to sit here and criticise how its run
Because pistonheads is based on the conept of criticism based on "apparently" and "my mate thinks" rather then fact. Hope this helpswilliamp said:
bogie said:
the whole procedure of how a dealer orders cars, who pays for them and when, how many cars are sat in Aston Martin dealers worldwide, how much does a car cost a dealer ...in fact, why dont they just make their whole business public knowledge for us to sit here and criticise how its run
Because pistonheads is based on the conept of criticism based on "apparently" and "my mate thinks" rather then fact. Hope this helpsHaving bought four new Astons over time, I can confirm that dealers have allocations which they must sell. They were quite open about showing you the slots they had and the specs they had pencilled in if the car was not yet ordered by a customer.
I have been saying for a long time that the concept of dealer specced cars needs to stop to protect residuals.
I have been saying for a long time that the concept of dealer specced cars needs to stop to protect residuals.
AstonZagato said:
Having bought four new Astons over time, I can confirm that dealers have allocations which they must sell. They were quite open about showing you the slots they had and the specs they had pencilled in if the car was not yet ordered by a customer.
I have been saying for a long time that the concept of dealer specced cars needs to stop to protect residuals.
Funny you mention dealer specced cars as these were stopped when the company was taken over by Ford. The chairman decided that all the unsold cars would have to be sold and from then on only ordered cars would be built. Obviously things have changed and Aston are back where they started.I have been saying for a long time that the concept of dealer specced cars needs to stop to protect residuals.
bogie said:
the whole procedure of how a dealer orders cars, who pays for them and when, how many cars are sat in Aston Martin dealers worldwide, how much does a car cost a dealer ...in fact, why dont they just make their whole business public knowledge for us to sit here and criticise how its run
You don't have to work for a dealer to know how it works.Can't comment on anyone else's views as stated here but mine came from:-
1. BiL who is a director of a very large car dealership group (who have an Aston franchise in their brand portfolio).
and perhaps more importantly
2. Dealer Principle of large Aston dealership
By the way, I didn't actually see any criticism of how dealerships run their businesses
.What was apparant, however, was that certain naive assumptions had been made regarding how major manufacturers actively control their route to market (often to their own longer term detriment)
HTH
Didn't the Saudi royal family keep them going through the last recession by ordering some seriously expensive custom cars, can't see that happening now as by 'democratizing the brand they are in with Porsche who have a LOT of money.
More to it than that of course, they are terrific cars but even their truly collectable cars (DBS) are depreciating so can't be ideal.
Of course they won't go bust as a brand but they will have a quiet few years without all the back end R&D dosh etc.
More to it than that of course, they are terrific cars but even their truly collectable cars (DBS) are depreciating so can't be ideal.
Of course they won't go bust as a brand but they will have a quiet few years without all the back end R&D dosh etc.
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