Aston Martin will make fewer cars than expected this year as production problems hamper its new DB12 sports car.
The British manufacturer said the luxury car, priced from £185,000, has been hit by supply delays and software issues, and now expects to sell 6,700 cars this year, up from a previous forecast of 7,000.
“Given the slight delays in the initial production ramp-up, we have marginally updated our volume expectations,” said CEO Amedeo Felisa.
These delays also contributed to mounting losses of £48.4m in the three months to September, higher than the £38m expected by analysts.
But Aston Martin was boosted by strong sales of other models, including the Valkyrie, which costs around £2.5m.
Teething problems: Aston Martin said production of its new DB12 sports car, priced from £185,000, has been hit by supply delays and software challenges.
Revenue was 15 per cent higher than the previous year, at £362.1 million, and higher sales prices came to the rescue.
Aston Martin earned an average of £234,000 for each car sold. And despite the production problem, it hopes to reach its sales target of £2bn a year by 2025.
However, Share It still fell 8.9 per cent, or 19.5 pence, to 199.3 pence, having lost almost all of its value since listing in London in 2018.
Barclays analyst Henning Cosman said the results were “unconvincing”, with “question marks over execution and demand” for the business.
Billionaire chairman Lawrence Stroll has been trying to turn around the Warwickshire company since he rescued it in 2020.
Last month, his investment firm Yew Tree Consortium increased its stake to 26.2 percent. It first invested three years ago, buying a 16.7 percent stake.
The Chinese conglomerate Geely (owner of Volvo and Lotus) and the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund have joined the project.
Geely became the third-largest shareholder in May, sparking speculation that it could attempt a takeover bid.
