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7 Mar 2007, 15:22 (Ref:1860669) | #1 | |
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Prodrive buys Aston Martin (from ? to !)
saw this over in the F1 forum, but it has its obvious Sportscar/GT relevance...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIA...ent/33744.html pit |
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7 Mar 2007, 15:44 (Ref:1860686) | #2 | ||
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bad link;
"Sorry, the page you were looking for could not be found" |
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7 Mar 2007, 15:48 (Ref:1860691) | #3 | |
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7 Mar 2007, 15:52 (Ref:1860697) | #4 | ||
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all sounds VERY believable to me......looks like AMR-F1 is just around the corner.......albeit a re-badged McLaren if those rumours are true.
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7 Mar 2007, 15:57 (Ref:1860701) | #5 | ||
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Excellent news, and this has bigger implications than just this too. We could have large scale British manufacturer back here in the UK! Something which GB hasnt had since MG folded.
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7 Mar 2007, 16:27 (Ref:1860712) | #6 | ||
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I don't think AM counts as "large scale", perhaps they will even have to produce fewer but higher priced cars as they can no longer have cheap access to the Ford parts bin once sold off.
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7 Mar 2007, 19:51 (Ref:1860869) | #7 | ||
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The last Aston F1 project ended very badly.
If he does achive his goal, and in some ways I hope he does as he does seem to be very clever and he may have the right ideas, he would however be well advised to leave F1 out of the concept. The majority of Astons sales are from the US where F1 is near to invisable in the grand scheme of things and it would be a huge drain on both his and the companies money. Its also worth noting that very few people , if any, have ever emerged from owning the Aston Martin Brand better off than when they started. Last edited by Adam43; 7 Mar 2007 at 20:31. Reason: I am so sorry, I meant to edit my post witha reply to yours and accidentally clicked on you post and added your quote. It is now returned to as it was. |
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7 Mar 2007, 20:27 (Ref:1860894) | #8 | |||
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Lets leave the (potential) F1 link to the F1 forum: http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94474
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that it is a done deal with just the final pieces to come together. Unlike last week Prodrive seem to be favourites to land the deal for £500m. We'll see, but I guess it strengthens the case for Aston continuing in Sportscar racing. Although, no doubt, in a manner as of today where it is strictly not for a loss and with no burden on the manufacturer. Quote:
Last edited by Adam43; 7 Mar 2007 at 20:29. |
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7 Mar 2007, 20:38 (Ref:1860901) | #9 | |
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This is a very dangerous move for Prodrive. Its been proven time and again that premium brand sports car manufacturers can only survive under the ownership of car companies... and those car companies have significantly raised the stakes in recent years by pumping huge amounts of money into them significantly raising the quality. Aston floundered for a very long time before the Ford acquisition, so too did Lamborghini and Maserati. All three have shone like never before thanks to their multinational benefactors. If Prodrive buy Aston it will lead to the demise of both of them.
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7 Mar 2007, 21:14 (Ref:1860941) | #10 | ||
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As Hunter S Thompson wrote (and its also very adpt here):
"Buy the ticket, take the ride" If this is true, then good luck to them. |
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7 Mar 2007, 21:16 (Ref:1860945) | #11 | ||
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Were would Ferrari be without Fiat? Where would Reneult be without Nissan ?
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7 Mar 2007, 21:16 (Ref:1860946) | #12 | |||
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Quote:
L.P. |
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7 Mar 2007, 21:17 (Ref:1860947) | #13 | |||
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Quote:
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7 Mar 2007, 21:26 (Ref:1860959) | #14 | ||||
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Quote:
Quote:
shared parts remains. This is presumably to allay some of those fears. |
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Brum brum |
7 Mar 2007, 22:05 (Ref:1861003) | #15 | ||
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Although Porsche is not owned by anyway, you can't deny that their alliances with Volkswagen helped them.
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Nulla Tenaci Invia Est Via |
7 Mar 2007, 22:37 (Ref:1861028) | #16 | ||
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and it is possible that the Aston deal will put them in a similar position with Ford.
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Brum brum |
8 Mar 2007, 07:47 (Ref:1861185) | #17 | ||
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Quote:
If as Adam says, Ford provide continued support, ProDrive may stand a chance... but if I was David Richards... I'd keep well away. |
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8 Mar 2007, 08:03 (Ref:1861196) | #18 | ||
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A bit more on this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6428999.stm Just taking the Porsche bit further I know they are working with companies in Russia where labour is cheap and in particular they were looking to set up a Cayenne manufacturing base in Samara. |
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8 Mar 2007, 09:39 (Ref:1861247) | #19 | ||
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The irony being that a Cayenne is about as good looking as a Lada Samara!
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8 Mar 2007, 09:42 (Ref:1861251) | #20 | ||
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When I met the group of engineers (we were in a line at the immigration booths in Moscow) I suggested that the Cayenne was the biggest piece of automotive rubbish that I'd ever seen. Then they told me what they were doing.
On topic, that BBC article suggests the DR has Egyption backers among others. |
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8 Mar 2007, 10:10 (Ref:1861284) | #21 | |||
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Quote:
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8 Mar 2007, 11:04 (Ref:1861337) | #22 | ||
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I am lead to beleive that Ford Motor Co are retaining up to 30% interest in Aston Martin, making access to Fo Mo Co reserach, design and engineering capabilities all but a phone call away. I do not agree I have met David Richards on a number of occasions and he is a focussed and would not take on Aston unless he had a long term plan for the brand. I am confident the brand will prosper under his stewardship esp with his involvement in Motorsport.
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8 Mar 2007, 11:24 (Ref:1861355) | #23 | |||
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8 Mar 2007, 11:38 (Ref:1861365) | #24 | |||
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Quote:
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8 Mar 2007, 12:12 (Ref:1861390) | #25 | |
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Not sure I agree Andy... I do not think they meandered into SUV territory to showcase their technical competence. Having taken a belt and braces approach to rationalize the business by focusing solely on the 911, they were well aware of how vulnerable they were in producing one model of car to appeal to a single type of buyer and also how important SUVs were to their US market. I hate the Cayenne, but a lot of people with plenty of money love it and its been a big success for Porsche.
Still, back on topic, Porsche have been the definte exception in this domain and they are a very different company to Aston Martin. Aston Martin are a small volume high performance car company which has had a chequered [from a business perspective] history and time will tell whether it declines again... I dearly hope not. One other slant on this. I have immense respect and admiration for David Richards. He's quietly gone about becoming one of the most successful motorsport businessman in the world. However he's about to undertake a monumental feat in launching an F1 team [something which itself has been the demise of many successful motorsport principals] and if he goes ahead with the acquisition of Aston Martin, he may find he's spinning too many plates. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, there's nothing better I'd like to see than a successful Aston Martin and brilliant Prodrive F1 team under Richards' leadership. |
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