Martin...Aston Martin

Turns 100 next year, but will need investors if it wants to survive much longer;

“Even £150 million doesn’t go far,” [Professor David Bailey from Coventry University’s Business School] said. “Aston Martin has committed £500 million to new development, which could help them get a genuinely new platform to market. If you consider £400 million was spent getting the new Range Rover to market it shows the cost involved. Developing new cars is expensive.

“Companies like Aston Martin are becoming part of bigger groups – look at Ferrari with Fiat, Lamborghini and Porsche with Volkswagen and JLR with Tata.”

He added that an agreement with a bigger group would be advisable and a link-up with AMG would “make a lot of sense” but whatever the case Aston Martin’s dated Ford architecture and engines were in urgent need of replacement.

What's Auric Goldfinger up to?