The New Aston Martin Owners Will Be Indian or Italian

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: November 24th, 2012

the new aston martin owners will be indian or italian

This is the weekend – if the predictions of Reuters prove correct – when British sports car maker Aston Martin will get a new owner – yet again. An Italian private equity fund and an Indian company known for its off-road vehicles compete for the business.

According to Reuters, Italian private equity fund Investindustrial and India’s Mahindra & Mahindra have made competing bids for 50 percent of Aston Martin. A decision is expected over the weekend.

The current owner is the Kuwaiti investment house Dar. Two Kuwaiti investment companies, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co. had supplied the money, and the British engineering group Prodrive supplied the expertise when Ford wanted to unload Aston Martin, which it had owned since 1991.

Before Ford, Aston Martin had gone through a series of bankruptcies and different owners. All eventually found out that building supercars without the backing of a huge company is a losing proposition, and that recessions can be murder if expensive cars is all you have.

Investitudinal owned motorcycle maker Ducati before selling it to Volkswagen. The company allegedly has reached a technical partnership deal with Daimler AG’s Mercedes.

#AstonMartin #BertelSchmitt #UK

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments

Join the conversation

8 of 74 comments

Volt 230 on Nov 25, 2012

And the erosion of the West continues, doesn't anyone care?

Like Reply
- See 4 previous
- BigMeats on Nov 25, 2012
  
  Sure, but not as much as we care about short term profits. And what else can anyone expect when the non-productive population keeps growing and resources keep shrinking? Everyone is increasingly in hoarder mode. China has a big advantage over the West because they've *always* been grimly overpopulated and they don't waste a second's thought on building fairness or sustainability into their system (beyond the token efforts for Western media). Any domestic blow-back from their rapaciousness is ably handled by their police and army. We're not there yet.
  
  Like
- 28-Cars-Later on Nov 25, 2012
  
  Well I care, but evidently those in power don't.
  
  Like
- 28-Cars-Later on Nov 25, 2012
  
  @BigMeats Good points BigMeats. Hopefully we'll never get to the point where police or army are wholesale murdering us for resisting, but we do need to lose the past fifty years of societal nonsense and get back to our roots as a nation.
  
  Like
- Hubcap on Nov 26, 2012
  
  "And the erosion of the West continues, doesn’t anyone care?" You're equating the "erosion of the west" with a niche car manufacturer whose had financial difficulties for much of its existence. That it's yet again on the ropes should not be a surprise. Remember correlation does not equal causation. As I see it the country has a number or problems and each politician and for that matter party has his/her sacred cows. In order for us to move forward, we, the people must force those cows to the slaughter and demand that our leaders act for what's best for the United States, not a particular party, special interest, or individual politician. Until we can come together and eject the chaff on both sides of the aisle we won't be operating on all cylinders. Oh and can we please have a thorough and complete audit of the Fed. How an institution with that kind of power is allowed to do whatever it wants is beyond me.
  
  Like
- Hubcap on Nov 26, 2012
  
  @BigMeats "And what else can anyone expect when the non-productive population keeps growing..." Yeah, that's the main problem the country has. It's them, them, them! No mention of Fed policies which devalue the currency and make the environment ripe for an explosive growth in inflation. No mention of a decade old two front war. Is there an end in sight, I don't know but I do know trillions of dollars have been spent and I wonder what if anything we've gained. No mention of politicians who willfully and knowingly pursue policies detrimental to the health and well being of the United States. After all, if their lobbyist wants it, it must be good. There's plenty of blame to go around and solving the problem means looking at the entire problem. Cut out the bad, grow the good. So while I agree with you in part, the country has much bigger issues.
  
  Like
Volt 230 on Nov 26, 2012

Are there any more British-owned auto manufacturers left? The same could happen here.

Like Reply
- NMGOM on Nov 27, 2012
  
  Yes: Morgan, Radical, Caterham, Hackney, Noble...and I'm sure there are other small marques. -------------------------
  
  Like

Recent Comments

Jkross22 Our experience is that the idea of leasing/owning an EV is better than the experience of getting a closer look at them and coming away underwhelmed.
Ajla I never thought I'd advocate for an alphanumeric but "Junior" is a terrible name.
Arthur Dailey So pay moving costs, pay penalties or continue to pay for space in the RenCen, and purchase all new furniture and equipment. Rather than just consolidating in place and subleasing. Another brilliant business decision.
Jkross22 Why not just consolidate space and rent out to vendors at a reduced rate? Wouldn't this help with coordination and partnerships as well as letting go of unused space, turning it into a revenue generation opportunity as well as a PR win where GM could offer younger companies great space to develop ideas? Oh right, that might make more financial sense. Can't take the OLD GM out of GM.
Analoggrotto Funny, Han Solo calls Luke this in Empire Strikes Back.