use that 1 billion to make NAMES for Lincoln again instead of these letters..MKZ..WTF is that??

 

Amazing that not one person in this thread can spell ASTON MARTIN.

 

Or Ian Callum...

lose the conspiracy theory. Ian left Aston a long time ago

 

That would be scary. On the other hand, I think Connolly (AML's leather supplier for decades) went out of business recently.

 

I would guess that they would want to own a car company because LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) already has a hand in luxury brands across a variety of industries - They own Moet Champagne, Hennessy Cognac, Louis Vuitton, TAG Huer, Dior, DI Group (Newspapers, books, magazines, radio stations).

So, owning one of the most prestigious car brands in the world would seem to fit their portfolio pretty well. These people are already their customers.

I would guess that plan is to keep Aston the company it is today by running the business like it's being run now. Everyone seems to be acting like they'll go in and change everything. My guess is they'll keep things the same as possible. Aston is one of the most profitable car brands in the world right now. I would guess that they'll provide the operating capital and reap the profit while doing little else in the day to day operations of manufacturing.

Louis Vuitton leather interiors or fitted luggage are certainly possible, but I'd think they would be high end options, not mandatory.

However, I would certainly expect to see them take advantage of some of the synergies on the marketing side - Astons in TAG Huer ads or Moet ads, etc.

 

I don't think they'll CHANGE anything, at least not intentionally. I worry that they won't be able to continue development. The fact that Ford will continue to have an ownership stake is somewhat reassuring on that front.

 

Wow.

I just can't see how this could go well, unless LV is planning on turning around and re-selling Aston to someone else at a better price.

 

My thoughts exactly.

So are we going to now start seeing knock-off Aston Martins out of China, just like we see knock-off LV products?

 

If I recall, Aston Martin (like Chevrolet's Corvette) generates enough money to be self supporting and makes a small but tidy profit for itself. That on top of it being a world renouned premium brand that would be a jewel in any global automaker's crown. It gave far more than a little bit of glamour to Ford's Premium Auto Group (PAG). Again, if I recall, even with Jaguar's losses, PAG is still profitable for Ford.

I know Ford's desparate for money, but selling off Aston IMHO is a huge mistake. The only bigger mistake I see is a entity that knows nothing about automobiles buying it. Even worse is a symbol of Britian becoming French.

Sort of like "James Bond" becoming "Jacques Bond".

 

I guess he'll be trading those martinis for champagne cocktails.

 

They should have sold Jaguar instead and gotten rid of that money pit.

 

So now PAG is Jag, Land Rover and Volvo...

Strange that GM has four middle market brands overlapping and ford has four upmarket brands overlapping...

 

Wouldn't say they overlap. Land Rover is strictly premium AWD vehicles & Volvo buyers aren't exactly the bluebloods who buy Jags. Aston Martins, meanwhile, seem to be the car for multimillionaire playboys and royalty singles.

First Lincoln was pulled out, now AM is sold off. Before long that Ford PAG building in Irvine is going to just be the overflow building of neighboring Mazda.

 

Reminds me of when amf bought Harley! And we all know what a great job they did with that.......Don't we?

 

news was wrong!:

http://www.autocarmag.com/News/NewsA...llCars/224072/