Aston Martin is seeking additional funding to the tune of more than $490 million in the form of high yield bonds which will largely be used to refinance existing bank loans in an effort to ‘clean up’ its capital structure, according to sources close to the deal.
Sales increased marginally in 2010 to 4184 cars from 4000 in 2009 as a result of it broadening the product range to include additional models like the four-door Rapide; production of which is being transferred from Magna Steyr in Austria to Aston’s Gaydon facility in the second half of 2012.
In a tersely worded statement Aston Martin chief executive, Dr Ulrich Bez said: “In 2008 we had facility restrictions at Gaydon which indicated that production of Rapide at Gaydon would likely compromise production of our other cars. We were not prepared to do this.”
“Now, three years on things are very different – Gaydon is more established, more flexible and more efficient. While our overall volume has not changed significantly, we now produce a far richer model mix – eight model lines (plus five variants) compared to three model lines (plus two variants) in 2008 – so Rapide production is now possible.”
Or could it be that sales of the Rapide, and other models in the portfolio, haven’t been as strong as anticipated three years ago..?
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