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Big designs, little capital: the Aston Martin Lagonda Vision concept car at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show
Photo: DENIS BALIBOUSE / REUTERS
Daimler's car subsidiary Mercedes-Benz increases its stake in the ailing luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda.
In exchange for this, Mercedes will give the British access to new technologies, the companies announced on Tuesday in Stuttgart and the English village of Gaydon.
In several tranches, Daimler is increasing its share from the current 2.6 percent to a maximum of 20 percent, it said.
However, there is no interest in a further takeover.
The ties between manufacturers have been close for years.
Mercedes had already joined the British in 2013 to supply their sports cars with V8 engines from their tuning subsidiary AMG.
AMG boss at that time was today's Aston Martin boss
Tobias Moers
(54) - by the way, as the successor of today's Daimler boss
Ola Källenius
(51).
As a result of Aston Martin's IPO and further financing rounds in 2018, the stake then fell from five to 2.6 percent.
Aston Martin suffered losses and high costs even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Falling sales and high investments in the new DBX SUV resulted in a pre-tax loss of £ 104 million in 2019.
The year before, the manufacturer, which competed with Ferrari and Porsche, had posted a pre-tax loss of £ 68 million.
In search of fresh capital, the British had received 540 million pounds in January from a consortium led by the Canadian Formula 1 billionaire
Lawrence Stroll
(61), who has since led the board of directors;
In April, the Swiss billionaire
Ernesto Bertarelli
(55) joined with 3.4 percent.
The corona crisis has now exacerbated the company's problems again.
In the third quarter, Aston Martin posted an operating loss of £ 29 million on sales of £ 124 million.
The share price has been moving at Pennystock level for a long time.
Now Mercedes comes to the rescue.
In the next three years, the Stuttgart-based company will receive new shares to be issued by Aston Martin in several steps up to a total value of 286 million British pounds (315 million euros).
In return, Aston Martin will receive, among other things, next-generation hybrid and electric powertrains as well as other vehicle components and systems.
The British, known for the cars from the James Bond films, have high hopes for their first SUV called the DBX.
"I am very pleased to have come to the company to lead this transformation," said the Aston Martin boss Moers, who only took up office in August.
The technology from Mercedes-Benz will "fundamentally ensure that our future products remain competitive," said Moers.
The first technology-for-shares swap worth 140 million pounds has already been agreed and will increase Mercedes' stake to 11.8 percent.
Many sports car manufacturers are currently counting on an electric future.
One of the role models is the electric Porsche Taycan.
Daimler itself also wants to electrify the AMG subsidiary step by step in the coming years.
"AMG will be an electric brand, that will be green high-performance," said CEO Källenius in an interview with manager magazin.
"We will hybridize the cars based on the Formula 1 model; and it is very likely that in a few years we will also bring a battery-electric sports car platform onto the market."
In addition to Daimler, Zelon Holdings and Permian Investment Partners also joined Aston Martin as new shareholders.
It was recently announced that racing driver
Sebastian Vettel
(33)
, who will drive for the Aston Martin team in Formula 1, also
owns shares in the company.
Aston Martin said the fresh capital will raise the company's cash holdings to more than £ 500 million.
In addition, the term of the outstanding debt is extended.
Aston Martin also announced a new business plan targeting sales of £ 2 billion and an operating profit (adjusted Ebitda) of £ 500 million by 2024/25.
The British then want to sell 10,000 cars annually.
CEO Moers particularly emphasized the progress made in reducing stocks of unsold cars at dealerships.
In the course of the year so far, the overhang has been reduced by 1,400 vehicles, 567 of them in the third quarter.
Production of the DBX has also started successfully.
ak / dpa-afx
