Troubled US auto giant Ford Motor Co said on August 31, it was looking to sell Aston Martin, the prestigious British sports carmaker immortalised by fictional superspy James Bond.
The loss-making Detroit company said it wanted to free up resources for its other auto badges, and said that prospective buyers had already come forward for the legendary British marque.
Chairman and chief executive Bill Ford said that Aston Martin had "flourished" since it became part of the US group in 1986, "which is why we believe it is prudent to consider a sale of all or part of this prized brand".
Ford has not yet decided on the future of Aston Martin's stablemates in the company's Premier Automotive Group (PAG), including luxury carmaker Jaguar, Bill Ford added in a statement.
"However, we continue to be encouraged by Jaguar's progress and by the strength and consumer appeal of the Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo product line-ups," he said. JCB, the British maker of heavy construction vehicles, said last week that it was interested in buying the loss-making Jaguar, which analysts have said is the obvious choice for Ford to divest.
A sale of Aston Martin, whose latest DBS model will feature in the next 007 movie "Casino Royale", was not so widely predicted. But Ford is battling to revamp its operations as it suffers hefty losses in income and market share.
Bill Ford said the British unit's dealer network, products and size were all distinctly different from other Ford brands, making it "the most logical and capital-smart divestiture choice".
Any sale would enable Ford "to efficiently raise capital for its other brands", the company boss added.
A spokesman for Ford's PAG division in London, John Gardiner, said "we do have a number of confidential parties that are interested" in Aston Martin, but offered no details. Analysts cited interest in PAG brands from a group of private investors including former Ford chief executive Jac Nasser. Chinese and South Korean manufacturers are also rumoured to be interested in Aston Martin.
Ford does not release individual financial results for nameplates such as Aston Martin. But in the second quarter ended June, PAG reported a pre-tax loss of 162 million dollars, compared with a pre-tax profit of 17 million dollars in the same period a year ago.
The company as a whole lost 1.45 billion dollars in the first six months of the year, compared to a profit of 2.1 billion in the same period of 2005.
The carmaker is expected shortly to announce deeper changes beyond those outlined in its "Way Forward" recovery plan outlined in January, which calls for closing 14 plants and eliminating 30,000 jobs.
Aston Martin, which traces it roots to 1913, is headquartered in Gaydon, in the central English county of Warwickshire. It employs about 1,000 people in design and manufacturing, according to Ford.
While never losing its celebrity glamour or a special cachet among auto afficionados, the group has often been strapped for cash down the years. It went through a bewildering series of owners in the 1970s and 1980s before Ford took a majority stake in 1986 and then full control seven years later.
Ford has invested substantially in Aston Martin, whose models including the 270,000-dollar Vanquish S now use components shared with other parts of the US automaker's empire.
Comments
Comments are closed.