The future plans of the weather carmaker Aston Martin have been extensively revised after a major investment by a consortium led by billionaire Lawrence Stroll. With this step, the company returns to F1 as a factory team. The Stroll-owned Racing Point F1 team will be renamed to Aston Martin F1 team starting 2021. In addition, Aston Martin has pledged to launch its supercar Valkyrie this year, has committed to a revised strategy for mid-engined cars, and has also announced the launch of its electric car , Including the relaunch of luxury brand Lagonda, will be delayed until after 2025 becomes.
Under the deal, the Stroll-led consortium with Yew Tree Overseas Limited bought a 16.7 percent stake in the British carmaker for 182 million pounds (about 1,705 rupees) and also includes 318 million pounds (about 2,978 crores) cash infusion through an issuance. New rights give Aston Martin a payment of 500 million pounds (about 4,683 rupees). The consortium also includes JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford, former President of Power Corp Canada Andrew Desmarais, and Hong Kong fashion investor Star Chou.
What does Stroll’s investment mean for Aston Martin
Nazha proposed to Chinese carmaker Geely, owner of Lotus and Volvo, partner in Smart and a major shareholder in Daimler, to contract the deal. As part of the investment, Stroll will join Aston Martin’s board of directors as CEO, and the consortium has the right to appoint a second member of the board.
The £ 500 million investment includes £ 55.5 million (about Rs.520 billion) in short-term financing from Stroll to improve the company’s immediate liquidity, which will be returned upon completion of the full placement of shares. The company said the returns on investment will be used to “improve liquidity and finance the increase in DBX production and shift in corporate performance”.
In a statement confirming the deal, Aston Martin Lagonda said the move “will strengthen its balance sheet in order to necessarily and promptly improve liquidity and reduce leverage after disappointing business until 2019.”
Aston Martin was listed on the stock exchange in 2018 at a value of 4.5 billion pounds (about 42.148 billion rupees) but is currently around 1 billion pounds (about 9366 billion rupees) based on today’s stock issue.
The future of Aston Martin Formula 1
Aston Martin is currently sponsoring the Red Bull F1 Team – and will continue to sponsor the Red Bull F1 Team in 2020 – but then agreed to a 10-year deal with Racing Point to become the official Aston Martin Factory List. The contract includes a five-year sponsorship agreement beginning in 2021. With the move, Aston Martin is returning to Formula 1 as a factory team for the first time in 60 years.
In 2018, Stroll Consortium dominated the Fight Force India roster, and the team would later become Racing Point at the start of the 2019 season. Stroll’s son, Lance Stroll, rides with the team alongside Sergio Perez.
What does the roaming deal mean for Aston Martin’s future product plan
According to the Aston Martin release, the current technology partnership between Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies “will continue until the Aston Martin Valkyrie is shipped.” However, it is unclear if Red Bull’s participation in Valhalla’s mid-engine project will continue unabated.
As a result of Aston Martin’s recent troubles, the company has also agreed to “reset business plan” to boost its performance, which includes both cash generation and product plan change. The reset plan calls for deferring investment in the electric vehicle until after 2025, including delaying the restart of the Lagonda brand, which was originally slated for 2022.
Rapide E electric vehicle project has been discontinued pending review. As of Valhalla in 2022, a commitment to deliver mid-engine vehicles will remain in development currently.
With urgent priority, the DBX will be launched later this year. The company claims to have received 1,800 orders so far. It will then update the Vantage – and introduce a Roadster version – and begin shipping the Valkyrie later this year. The company will also try to reduce costs by £ 10 million per year.
