Aston Martin has had its ups and downs in the last decade, actually the last century if we’re honest. But recently, the company has been on the up and up under the leadership of Lawrence Stroll. It has had successful new products like the DB12, the DBX, and now the Vantage. The latter we reviewed in the latest (October) issue of NZ Autocar.
But despite that, the British sports car maker has said it won’t build the numbers it hoped to this year (7000).
Its newly appointed CEO, Adrian Hallmark, formerly of Bentley, said the company will manufacture and deliver around 6000 cars in 2024. That’s 1000 fewer than originally estimated. Hallmark also said the company is unlikely to meet its gross margin target of around 40 per cent for the year (profit after expenses). The company delivered 6620 vehicles in 2023 but won’t quite match that in 2024, according to its CEO.
“Near perfect execution was required to meet the company’s ambitious 2024 plan,” Hallmark to Reuters. “It has become clear that we need to take decisive action to adjust our production volumes for 2024.”
Hallmark blamed this on supply chain issues that have affected several of Aston Martin’s suppliers in Europe. Production at a large Swiss aluminium supplier was interrupted by flooding, which also impacted other premium brands.
Hallmark is upbeat about next year as Aston unveils new wheels. Included are Vanquish and Valhalla sports cars, along with a refreshed DBX SUV.
Aston Martin, like many others, has delayed its EV plans and will now keep making combustion cars into the 2030s.
