Ford to sell Aston Martin to Prodrive (rumor)

[Nick Koan]

Hot.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/reports-...-prodrive.html

Ford is likely to announce the sale of its Aston Martin brand to racing firm Prodrive, according to reports by Reuters and the Telegraph. "It's a done deal. All that remains is to cross the t's and dot the i's," said a senior source told the U.K. newspaper.

Sources at the Geneva Motor Show told the Telegraph the sale would be complete by the end of the week. The Reuters news agency reported much the same thing, saying the $900 million deal could be finalized this week.

Ford announced in August it intended to sell the company in order to raise capital. In November, it was reported Aston Martin would likely become an independent car company, since no major automaker expressed an interest in acquiring the marquee.

umors that Aston Martin would be been sold to luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton (LVMH) surfaced earlier this year, and were promptly shot down as "absolute rubbish."

Prodrive revealed a tuning package for the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. The company tuned the 4.3 litre V8 engine to raise peak power from 380 hp to 425 hp, as well as increasing peak torque from 302 lb/ft to 325 lb/ft. This reduces the car's 0-62 mph time from 5.0 secs to 4.7 secs (est).

CEO Dr Ulrich Bez is likely to remain at the head of Aston, and Ford will retain a small stake in the company.

I wonder if we'll see Aston Martins on the F1 grid next year, instead of Prodrives.

[tysonK]

Nice.

[Kevin M]

Maybe Prodrives with AM motors? Which could be sold to other teams as well?

Regardless, this is pretty cool news. I just want to find some damn Prodrive F1 gear. Have they unveiled their colors and all that yet?

[Nick Koan]

Nothing has been released on the F1 team yet. Probably not for a while.

[sperry]

MY PANTS ARE TIGHT!

[Libila]

That's awesome!

I can only imagine how much better future models of Aston Martins will be if this really happens...

[sybir]

Wow, that's gonna be crazy.

[MattR]

I feel the need for some Green gear soon! This is awesome news. I believe I made this prediction last year when prodrive announced their F1 effort.

[Nick Koan]

Its official. It was announced today that David Richards is one of the buyers of Aston Martin from Ford. I don't believe Prodrive has a stake just yet, except for the link through Richards.

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../70312008/1024

Aston Martin Sold
Kuwaiti investors bid $925 million for sports car maker

By BOB GRITZINGER AND JULIAN RENDELL

AutoWeek | Published 03/12/07, 11:32 am et
Rumors of the impending sale of Ford-owned Aston Martin ran rampant at the Geneva motor show; the deal was consummated March 12 as we went to press.

The sale, pegged at $925 million, was to a consortium comprised of Prodrive founder and chairman David Richards; John Sinders, an Aston Martin collector and backer of Aston Martin Racing; and Kuwait-based Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co.

Current Aston CEO Ulrich Bez will stay on in that position; Richards will be the company chairman, and Sinders will take over as head of Aston Martin’s North American operations.

Sinders, an investment banker from Houston, Texas, owns eight Aston Martins and is a principal investor in the American DBRS racing team. Although Sinders has a smaller stake in the deal, he apparently spearheaded the purchase, first by approaching Richards and then convincing the Kuwaiti investors to back the bid.

Ford had been shopping its boutique sports car maker since August 2006 in an effort to obtain much-needed cash for core Ford operations. The sale of Aston will close by mid-year, with Ford retaining a $77 million investment in the company.

At a press conference announcing the transaction, the new owners assured that the investment group backs Aston’s long-range product plans, including building the four-door Aston Martin Rapide by the end of decade. The company plans to produce up to 2000 Rapides per year.

In addition, a product pyramid revealed a future flagship dubbed DBX positioned above the Rapide. Although the car may be a Vanquish replacement, it also may be a super-flagship above the Vanquish and not currently in the Aston portfolio. Richards said Aston might want a car in the mold of the Audi R8, suggesting the builder of front-engined sports cars may break tradition and offer a mid-engined model.

Despite Prodrive’s strong background in all-wheel drive, the new owners said that no sport/utility vehicles—or even awd products—are in the Aston pipeline.

[tysonK]

Originally Posted by nKoan's research academy net

Despite Prodrive’s strong background in all-wheel drive, the new owners said that no sport/utility vehicles—or even awd products—are in the Aston pipeline.

No SUVs in the model line up, for once a company stays the hard line, for now.