TStag Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Check out the premium car sales figures list in Europe for 2006: http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?...d=1#post1907357 Some interesting points I thought. Aston is out selling Ferrari and Lamborgini. Aston is doing better than Porsche in some respects because it doesn't make a rival for the Cayanne or the Boxter. It's projecting sales of 9000 a year within the next few year, and it has some of the highest profit margins in the industry.... Give them a decade and maybe they will buy Ford Motor Company... Land Rover is doing very well for an SUV maker and is almost putting Volvo to shame by doing more businness in percentage terms as they make less products that are more upmarket than Volvo. Lexus sales are pathetic, Jaguar still outsells them, despite a smaller range of products, no hybrid technology and few new models. In fact Lexus only achived strong growth because of their hybrid cars, which are currently on the drawing board for most of their rivals. Interesting stuff, and didn't Bentley do well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Ford can barely update Ford/Linc/Mercury products in a timely manner, don't get me started on Jaguar and premium high performance engines useable in cars in the sub $100K category are slim pickens. In the current cash crunch what do you think would have happened with AM when it came time to update their lineup? Sure AM is making money now, but the question is for how long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TStag Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 Ford can barely update Ford/Linc/Mercury products in a timely manner, don't get me started on Jaguar and premium high performance engines useable in cars in the sub $100K category are slim pickens. In the current cash crunch what do you think would have happened with AM when it came time to update their lineup? Sure AM is making money now, but the question is for how long. Aston would have got their high profit making cars greenlighted and Lincoln or Mercury would have lost another sales flop. My point is pretty simple Porsche is now in a position where it can afford to go out and buy VW. VW is huge it owns several big brands, yet tiny Porsche makes so much money it can do this. Now think 10 years down the line. Aston has expanded beyond the Rapide to make luxury passanger cars to rival Merc's S class. It has grown sales to Porsche volumes. How profitable could they be then? How bad will this decision look? Their new owner is Dave Richards of Prodrive, which owns Aston. He's build Proddrive from nothing. He certainly doesn't flush money down the toilet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Now think 10 years down the line. Aston has expanded beyond the Rapide to make luxury passanger cars to rival Merc's S class. :hysterical: :hysterical: Not gonna happen. An S-class is probably less than half the cost of the Rapide, which will probably be about the same cost as the Mercedes-Maybach, which has not been a roaring success. So, how many $200+K Rapides can they flog? How would the AM owners of $100K+ cars react to an $80K AM sedan to rival the S-class? Might be AM's X-type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 9000/year is pretty aggressive for AM. That's nearly 40% higher than the 2006 sales. Even if they could achieve that goal, given that their profit margin is around 10% per unit, that's only a net of around $135 million before taxes. They'll be profitable but not to the level that you imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TStag Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 9000/year is pretty aggressive for AM. That's nearly 40% higher than the 2006 sales. Even if they could achieve that goal, given that their profit margin is around 10% per unit, that's only a net of around $135 million before taxes. They'll be profitable but not to the level that you imagine. So Ford get $800 million dollars for Aston now when in a few years it will probably start making $135 million a year. Good move Ford! Prodrive's David Richards will launch an S class rival by Aston as well as a range of merchandising. I have little doubt in that. It's the next logical step if the Rapide is a success. When they do that then it will be like the atomic bomb going off in this market sector. It could even wipe Merc and BMW off the sales map in the UK, as Aston Martin is considered the coolest car brand in the world over here (officially). I fully expect Aston to go head to head with Porsche. If it loses then Ford won't have anything to worry about. But if it suceeds then it will be seen as one of the biggest blunders in Automotive history. Is that kind of a gamble reallty worth taking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TStag Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 9000/year is pretty aggressive for AM. That's nearly 40% higher than the 2006 sales. Even if they could achieve that goal, given that their profit margin is around 10% per unit, that's only a net of around $135 million before taxes. They'll be profitable but not to the level that you imagine. Forgot to say Bentley sell over 3000 cars a year in Europe alone. 9000 cars will be a walk in the park for Aston as it's uber cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Aston would have got their high profit making cars greenlighted and Lincoln or Mercury would have lost another sales flop. My point is pretty simple Porsche is now in a position where it can afford to go out and buy VW. VW is huge it owns several big brands, yet tiny Porsche makes so much money it can do this. Now think 10 years down the line. Aston has expanded beyond the Rapide to make luxury passanger cars to rival Merc's S class. It has grown sales to Porsche volumes. How profitable could they be then? How bad will this decision look? Their new owner is Dave Richards of Prodrive, which owns Aston. He's build Proddrive from nothing. He certainly doesn't flush money down the toilet.... compared with ferrari and Aston, porsches are the Model T of the "exotic" car world, if they can even be catagorized as that ...every year looks basically the same....mass produced in comparison......dare I say common? Quick joke...What do Porsches and Rolex watches have in common.....every a$$hole in newport Beach has one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcsario Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 (edited) So Ford get $800 million dollars for Aston now when in a few years it will probably start making $135 million a year. Good move Ford! Yeah, and Aston's R&D costs per project are free. Lets aim low and say the DB9 alone costed around 500m to make. Even if they sold nothing but DB9's, and were already selling close to 9k per year (NOW, not in a few(?) years)... they wouldn't be anywhere near killer monetary status. At the end of the day, AM is pretty much breaking even with their costs. Might not be a money pit, but it's not a gold mine either. AM = Ford having to spent billions for dimes. All that money went into the toilet anyway, Ford basically gave the brand away for free since all those hundreds of millions of dollars will be used to pay union whinners to STFU. Not one cent will go towards improving Ford's future as a result. Edited March 16, 2007 by pcsario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 So Ford get $800 million dollars for Aston now when in a few years it will probably start making $135 million a year. Good move Ford! Prodrive's David Richards will launch an S class rival by Aston as well as a range of merchandising. I have little doubt in that. It's the next logical step if the Rapide is a success. When they do that then it will be like the atomic bomb going off in this market sector. It could even wipe Merc and BMW off the sales map in the UK, as Aston Martin is considered the coolest car brand in the world over here (officially). I fully expect Aston to go head to head with Porsche. If it loses then Ford won't have anything to worry about. But if it suceeds then it will be seen as one of the biggest blunders in Automotive history. Is that kind of a gamble reallty worth taking? You forgot about that little "before taxes" bit and let's not forget that alot of that money has to be reinvested in R&D, etc in order to keep the products viable. AM makes money but it's not alot compared to the capital invested. In reality AM does little more than break-even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68Cougar Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Maybe Ford should have started exporting Lincolns to Europe, and rebadging them as Aston Martins or Lagondas. :happy feet: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 "when in a few years it will probably start making $135 million a year. " :hysterical: Now, THAT's really, really funny!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only place AM will make $135 million a year is in your dreams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsgnome Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 (edited) and what does Lincoln have that is worth exporting? I'm sure the Town Car would go over really well. :do what: Edited March 16, 2007 by rsgnome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68Cougar Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 I think you got that backwards, bro. Nah! While settle for rebadging Lincolns into Rovers when we can go for the top! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project-Fairmont Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 (edited) If you can get $900m for a car line that was not doing anything tangible for Fords image - take the money. The bottom line is a niche player is an expensive side show. I would think the Ford GT has done more for Fords image (including the Europeon operation) than any Aston since Ford owned them - and it made money! While we of this myopic world of those who "bled Ford blue", could take pride in the fact that our favorite Car company built 007's ride, I don't believe it sold any additional F150s' or Fusions. Besides, they will more than likely still use Jag bits, and the Modular based 6.0 V12 for the forseeable future and contunue to send our hearts a flutter! Edited March 16, 2007 by Project-Fairmont Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 << Aston is out selling Ferrari and Lamborgini. >> BFD. Much different price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 << Aston is out selling Ferrari and Lamborgini. >> BFD. Much different price range. AND profit margins.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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