Below is a link to the Q1 results...the good and bad...

* Total 1353 wholesales
* AMER 431, Europe 566, APAC 366
* DBX was 746 (55%) of wholesale units-- to me this is good and bad at the same time...great DBX demand but the GT cars are really selling poorly. You have 8 GT car variants and only sell ~600 worldwide...not good...it does say their is little built to order (BTO) car demand as some of these wholesale units are sitting on dealer lots...I'm guessing there were only ~300 cars sold were truly BTO
* Could have some winter seasonally in the DBX vs GT buying
* COVID impact ending should help sales later this year
* Changed wording to sell "around" 6000 units this year...I'm guessing 5500 units...but with easy money and rich folks flush with cash this would be a disappointing result...Ferrari, LAMBO, Bentley are selling better with little inventory on lots
* We need the GT car refresh fast...IMHO...hopefully later this year we see some spy shots and they are on the road in 2022

ps://amsc-prod-cd.azureedge.net/-/media/corporate/documents/results-centre/2021---results-centre/q1---2021/aston-martin-lagonda-q1-2021-results---press-release.pdf?rev=c6ed347ebfc84843b2e9d926262fc674

 

The AM GT offerings are still very expensive and don't offer the high level of finish and tech goodies that most buyers expect. Also companies like Lambo and Bentley do a much better job of hiding the Audi/VW/Porsche origins of their engines and products. The Superleggera, DB11 and Vantage all have an ancient plastic navi screen plastered in the middle of the dash. In Southern California, Bentleys and Lambos are flying off the lot. There are tons of Astons available. I'd add that McLaren cars are also moving sluggishly.

 

The info screen is the greatest detractor next to the external design mistakes. Sales could be much worse.

 

At least they made a semi-fix to the front end on the Vantage. The navi screen looks cheap and drags the whole interior down. It is a shame because the Vantage actually drives very well.

 

I think the infotainment screen in general is a losing game for the boutique manufacturers that can only get the older platforms. You'll never do better than Tesla or your phone. Instead of always being 5 year old, second-tier systems (e.g. not-Teslas), I'd instead make the car itself more analog and just integrate a touch screen that can mirror your phone. That way you can have all the latest goodies, continually updated, configured exactly how you like.

I like that the DB9's ancient screen always stays down and off. I never turn it on.

 

I couldn't agree more. I'd rather have a portal where I could either attach or not my latest handheld gizmo and leave the rest of the interior nice and leathery. The problem with the current Aston GT cars is the cheap navi screen is slapped right in plain view and it brings the whole interior down. Agree the old hidden version was better, though when opened it also looks horrible but. at least you can hide it.

 

Aston is just another generic luxury car now. Ferrari is the new Aston with their 800hp NA V12 GT cars.

My ideas for a successful Aston Martin
- Get rid of tacky $5 LCD screen instrument cluster and bring back the jewel like gauges from the DB9
- No more $10 tablet stuck outside permanently. Hideaway like the DB9 or new Bentleys
- Don't be daft, you don't need turbos on a 6L V12 to make 700hp. Bring back NA V12. If Ferrari can make 800hp NA V12s, so can you.
- Manual gearbox on the V12, this is really important. It would be a major product differentiator.
- Don't bastardize the styling on the baby Aston
- Boomers are dying, find a reason other than James Bond to justify your existence. Win some motorsport races or something.
- Make the Rapide Electric and make it faster than the Taycan.

 

+1 on the above.

Agree on the JB part.

Motorsports wise...they have been winning in GT racing. Accomplished a lot since 2005 (minus the horrid AMR-ONE). Thing is most pple don't follow GT racing. And here's the real kicker. When AMR was competing in the Stateside, there was little to no effort from AM Americas or AM dealers to market the events. There was ONE hospitality I attended back in 2005. Met David Richards (of ProDrive). Most pple who attended were from industry.

AMR GT racing and LM Hypercar initiatives officially cancelled. All eyes on AMF1 now which at the moment produces very lackluster results.

They did. And they cancelled the program.

 

Hate to break it, but NA engines are basically dead for niche marques like Aston Martin. Everything will be turbo or hybrid from now on. :-(