Recently, the Financial Times reported that Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (hereinafter referred to as Geely Holding) is seeking to acquire a 19.9% stake in aston martin, a century-old British luxury car brand, and has held talks with its investors and management. At the same time, Geely Holding has conducted due diligence on aston martin's capital.
According to British Sky News (Sky? News) reported that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, a battery manufacturer of electric vehicles in China, is considering an investment that may involve taking a stake in Aston martin (Aston? Martin? Lagonda)。 According to reports, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited has been in talks with Aston martin in recent weeks. Martin) and its consultants. These companies are seeking to participate in the recapitalization of troubled aston martin.
A spokesman for Aston Martin also said that he would not comment on any negotiations, only that communication with potential investors was ongoing.
From this point of view, aston martin, which is in trouble, has attracted the attention of many investors, but it is still unknown with which party it can finally reach an investment agreement.
As an ultra-luxury sports car manufacturer, aston martin is headquartered in Gaden, Warwickshire, England, with a history of 17 years. It was sold by British entrepreneur David Brown to Ford in 1994 and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. In March 27, Ford sold most of its shares to a consortium led by British racing company Prodrive. In December 212, the Italian private equity fund Investindustrial announced that it would invest 15 million pounds to acquire a 37.5% stake in Aston Martin.
since it was listed on the London stock exchange in October 218, Aston Martin's funds have been quite tight, mainly due to its sluggish performance. In 219, Aston Martin sold 5,819 new cars worldwide, down 7% from 218. A few days ago, Aston Martin confirmed that on the one hand, due to the reduced demand for luxury cars in Europe, especially in the UK, the sales of models were not good, and this state continued throughout 219; On the other hand, due to the challenges brought by the strong performance of competitors Bentley and Rolls-Royce, the company's profit in 219 was almost halved. "In 219, Aston Martin experienced a very disappointing year." ? Andy Palmer, CEO of Aston Martin, once said.
Financially, Aston Martin has suffered losses for two consecutive quarters in 219. The second quarter financial report shows that it has lost 79 million pounds. The third quarter financial report showed a pre-tax loss of 13.5 million pounds, compared with a profit of 3.1 million pounds in the same period last year, and revenue fell by 11% year-on-year to 25 million pounds. The adjusted operating profit in the third quarter was 13.4 million pounds, down 51% year-on-year.
It is reported that the investors who are interested in Aston Martin are not only Geely and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, but also the Financial Times reported that Racing? Point? Formula One team owner and billionaire Lawrence Speed (Lawrence? Stroll is in deep talks about investing about 2 million pounds in the British luxury car manufacturer, and he will get a 2% stake in the company.
An insider of Geely Holding told the media that if Geely really wants to take a stake, it will not be a pure financial investment, but a technical cooperation. ? According to the report, Geely Automobile believes that if aston martin and Geely Automobile can integrate the Lotus brand technology and vehicle platform, it is expected to save costs for the company.
As for Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited's acquisition or shareholding, it may be a good choice in the industry, but some people think that after the white list is released in China, Panasonic, LG and other brands are increasingly competitive in China. Therefore, for Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, it is also necessary for established brands like Aston Martin to start the brand of Ningde. At the same time, Aston Martin's first pure electric vehicle Rapide? E also needs the help of Ningde, and the cooperation between the two sides is a mutually beneficial result. But there are also views that this is not a very reasonable choice for Aston Martin.
actually, Aston Martin's exploration in the field of electric vehicles began several years ago. As early as April 215, aston martin and LeTV announced their intention to cooperate. On February 17, 216, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of an electric vehicle cooperation joint venture company in Frankfurt, Germany, and announced that they would set up a joint venture company to build aston martin's first pure electric production sports car Rapid? E。 However, according to media reports, the follow-up cooperation has been terminated due to financial problems.
in addition, in October 215, aston martin's first all-electric sports car, Rapide? E appeared in the market as a concept car; In 217, aston martin announced that it would produce a limited number of 155 vehicles, which will be produced and delivered by the end of 219. Until the first half of 219, aston martin officials also publicly displayed the car at the Shanghai Auto Show. It is reported that aston martin has positioned the car as an ultra-luxury electric sports car.
however, according to the latest report of Autocar, the model representing aston martin's electrification strategy-rapide? E pure electric sports car project seems to have stalled. The report said that the unsatisfactory financial statements had made aston martin decide to stop Rapide? E mass production, turn it into a research plan to strengthen the development speed of brand electrification.
Summary
With the deepening of the transformation of traditional automobile enterprises to electric vaporization around the world, electrification of automobiles has become an important way for major automobile enterprises to seek development. Although RapideE has stopped mass production due to the poor financial situation of the company and the low market demand for electric coupes, in the long run, aston martin will not give up its involvement in this field under the background of the trend of electrification of automobiles.
This article comes from the author of Chejia, car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.