Aston Martin's sales fell by almost 10 percent last year. At the same time, management at the headquarters in England must deal with the fact that debt has now grown to over 8 billion kroner.
Aston Martin is facing significant financial challenges and now has a debt of more than 8 billion Danish kroner.
This came to light when the car brand published its annual accounts for 2024 this week. The news agency Reuters writes.
The massive debt can be partly explained by Aston Martin throwing more on the floor than in previous years. Losses rose to 289.1 million pounds, which is equivalent to approximately 2.5 billion Danish kroner.
In comparison, the English car brand came out of 2023 with a deficit that was limited to 239 million pounds in 2023.
At the same time, Aston Martin's debt has risen to over a billion pounds. This corresponds to more than eight billion Danish kroner. This is an increase of 43 percent. The company's earnings have fallen by 11 percent. They went from 305.9 million pounds to 271 million pounds.
The brand's new CEO, Adrian Hallmark, already made it clear before he had to present the annual accounts that his primary focus is to create a sustainable economy.
This comes after a period in which Aston Martin has spent several million kroner on the launch of several new models and a number of facelifts.
As part of a larger savings plan that is expected to generate £25 million right now, the number of employees will be reduced by 170 paychecks. This corresponds to five percent of all employees.
The decline in earnings at the factory in Gaydon, England, coincides with a general decline in sales worldwide.
Sales fell by 8.9 percent in 2024, with Aston Martin selling 6,030 cars. That was 6,620 cars the previous year. This is mainly due to lower demand, with the English declining by 16 percent.
Conversely, Aston Martin is far from the only one struggling in the Chinese market. At the Volkswagen Group, Audi is trying to salvage some of its business with a completely new car brand. Read more about it here.
Adrian Hallmark, who comes from a role as director of Bentley, said when he took over the boss position at Aston Martin that it is now necessary to cut 'significantly unnecessary costs and inefficient timelines'.
At the same time, the boss has had to admit that at least some of his customers are turning away from electric cars. Therefore, Aston Martin cannot see a business that can survive without the combustion engine. At least not for 2040.
Speaking of delays, nothing has happened with the Valhalla model, which was supposed to be the British answer to a Lamborghini Revuelto and Ferrari SF90.
But Aston has been hit by repeated delays. Originally the plan was to send it on the road by the end of 2021. Right now the British are hoping that something will happen this year.
