The big news this week for Aston Martin fans is that the luxury sports car maker, famous for James Bond 007, is coming back into the hands of Britain.
Ford announced that they had sold the company to a British group led by Dave Richards - the boss of Prodrive, a respected autosport specialist - for £ 479 million.
The American car giant has had a large stake in Aston Martin since 1987, buying the company right in 1994 and controlling the period of unrepresented sales success. In accordance with the ownership of Ford, the company developed a number of approved new models and reported record sales of 7,000 vehicles in 2006.
But with the decline of Ford’s financial problems, the group decided to sell a luxury brand. In 2006, Ford lost more than $ 12 billion and faced huge restructuring costs. However, the group still holds up to £ 40 million of the company.
The sports car specialist will remain in his purpose-built factory in Gaydon (Warwickshire), which employs 1,800 people.
Prodrive success
Under the leadership of Dave Richards, Prodrive has built a huge reputation in motor racing, driving the Aston Martin racing team in a series of sports cars around the world, as well as the highly successful Subaru rally team.
Dave Richards also led the BAR Formula One team from 2002 to 2004, taking the team from the eighth in the World Championship of manufacturers at that time, before Honda took on a larger role, and the BAR team was renamed. Richards was also a leader in the Benetton F1 team in the late 90s.
The most interesting for motorcycle enthusiasts, Prodrive owns a slot for participation in the F1 F1 World Championship. But the consortium called "unfounded" that Prodrive can now brand its F1 Aston Martin cars.
Also in the consortium with Dave Richards is a banker for finance and delivery, John Sinders and two Kuwaiti investment companies.
Mr. Richards reassured Aston Martin fans that the new owners were committed to the company in the long run and would not strive for a quick transition, as many private equity groups do.
Fascinating future
Like the potential presence of Aston Martin in F1 racing to excite fans, the new owners of the company announced plans to increase production by more than a quarter in the next three years.
The growth will depend on the launch of two new models - DBS, as seen at the end of the James Bond Casino Royale, and the four-door Rapide - with a range of up to seven cars.
As a result, it is expected that at least 200 workers will be employed in the expanded plant in Warwickshire.
Questions ahead
But looking further, the biggest question facing the new owners is without the support of a well-funded core group of cars that many of Aston Martin’s main competitors use, although they will have enough money to spend on developing the brand & Machines to keep them ahead competitors.
Another threat is the impending EU emission standards. If they are implemented at the factory, this will be a serious problem for independent automakers, such as the Aston Martin, who cannot meet the average emission limits in their range, balancing the inevitably better performance of their powerful sports models from a low-emission city, as large groups of cars can.
In order for the company to survive under such imposed regulation of the EU, huge investments will be required to produce low-emission power units, which nevertheless maintain the required level of power and performance. Although it is not clear how the EU will enforce the lower emission limits for automakers that have been agreed.
