Luxury sport car firm’s losses widen
In a world of cookie-cutter cars the Ignis is a quirky breath of fresh air, writes Matt Allan
Aston Martin Lagonda’s attempted turnaround went into reverse as the pandemic took its toll, the company has revealed.
Losses before tax in 2020 rose to £466 million compared with a £120m loss a year earlier as it wrote off almost £100m of investments in scrapped projects, including plans for an electric vehicle.
The delay to the latest James Bond film also meant the marketingopportunitiestoshowoff its cars was lost. Sales dropped 38 per cent to £611m.
Bosseshadpinnedtheirhopes on the company's first SUV, with its new DBX impressing. It helped revenues in the final quarter of 2020 rise 3 per cent.
A total of 4,150 cars were sold in 2020 - a third fewer than a year earlier, although bosses had already said they wished to sell a smaller number of vehicles in the hope of regaining greater exclusivity to its brand.
The pandemic did have an impact, forcing the temporary closure of both its factories and dealerships at varying points during the year.
Ice cream maker Mackie’s of Scotland has committed to investing in its green future after record annual sales.
The Aberdeenshire firm, which also produces chocolate bars, saw revenues nudge up 1 per cent to £16.7 million in the year to the end of May 2020, despite the impact from the initial period of lockdown.
Operating profits grew by 61 per cent to £3.4m. Chocolate sales jumped 46 per cent after recipe refinements helped secure further supermarket listings and “buyer loyalty”.
As the family firm began construction of a £4.5m lowcarbon refrigeration system that will become one of the most advanced in Europe, it also saw net assets increase by 18 per cent to just under £18.6m.
Mac Mackie, managing director and one of three sibling owners of the business, said: “These stellar results are made all the more impressive when we consider that we were ‘competing’ against the previous financial year, which accounted for the record heatwave summer of 2018.
“We broke all our own records then – and thought it would be very difficult to match that in the following year.
“With the first lockdown period in March, and the last quarter of the financial year, we initially witnessed a panic buying rush as the public filled freezers and baskets with staples – and not ice cream.
“For a few weeks, demand for take-home tubs of ice cream fell and our foodserhad
vice accounts sadly ground to a near halt, including temporary closure of our own 19.2 parlour in Aberdeen.
“However, we are very fortunatethaticecreamsalesquickly recovered, with increased demand as consumers seek a littleluxuryorpickmeuptreat while in lockdown at home.
“To see revenue increase, by even a small margin, is a credit to everyone in our team, we’ve had to be fleet of foot, to be able to keep working, at home and
remotely, while creating and incorporating the many new safety procedures required.”
Staff numbers increased to 91, from 83, with additional staff recruited for ice cream production, to help manage increased demand along with the need to work for longer hours in smaller groups, to ensure full distancing.
The 19.2 ice cream parlour managed to continue service with home delivery operation Deliveroo, however it has to close during some lockdown periods.
Mackie’s – based on the fourth-generation Westertown Farm – said it would continue to invest profits into the long-term sustainability of the business, which is already carbon positive thanks in part to four major wind turbines and a ten-acre solar farm.
This coming year will see it complete the construction of its new low-carbon refrigeration system, said to be the first of its kind in Scotland. It is projected to reduce energy use by up to 80 per cent.
The brand has enjoyed a strong start to 2021, with a recent study from Kantar Worldpanel showing that UK demand for premium ice cream has accelerated during the last year, with Mackie’s experiencing a 37 per cent growth in sales, second only to one other premium brand.
The FTSE 100 was dragged into negative territory at the end of trading after US data raised inflation fears while government borrowing costs also increased in Europe.
Wall Street opened lower and weighed on trader sentiment in London after better-than-expected jobless figures and durable goods orders.
The positive economic data unnerved some investors who are concerned that it could mean inflation will start to tick up and prompt tighter monetary policy.
London’s top flight closed 7.01 points, or 0.11 per cent, lower at 6,651.96 at the close of play on Thursday.
Across the continent, the other major markets were also cautious and tumbled into the red late in the session.
The German Dax was 0.54 per cent lower and the
French Cac moved 0.24 per cent lower.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “European markets have once again flattered to deceive today, starting off in promising fashion, before slipping back into the close, with US markets, and rising bond yields acting as a little bit of a drag.
“While rising US yields have been attracting the most attention, we’re also seeing some evidence of a tightening of financial conditions here in Europe, with sharp rises in government borrowing costs from Germany to Greece.
“The European Central Bank certainly appears to be becoming concerned about just such a scenario with chief economist Philip Lane saying that the ECB is prepared to buy bonds flexibly in order to prevent just such a fiscal tightening.”
Meanwhile,sterlingrecoiledafterhittinganalmost three-year high against the dollar on Wednesday.
The pound decreased by 0.3 per cent versus the US dollar to 1.410 and was down 0.75 per cent against the euro at 1.153.
The price of oil jumped to a 13-month high earlier on Thursday before losing steam to sit broadly flat after general trading sentiment took a downturn.
The price of Brent crude oil decreased by 0.03 per cent to 66.99 dollars per barrel.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Evraz, up 33.6p to 598.4p, DS Smith, up 21.9p to 405.9p, Anglo American, up 112p to 2953.5p, Rio Tinto, up 125p to 6480p, and BP, up 5.75p to 304.55p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Standard Chartered, down 31.4p to 478p, Intermediate Capital Group, down 90p to 1811p, Polymetal, down 54.5p to 1452p, Persimmon, down 93p to 2671p, and Berkeley, down 145p to 4172p.
Most modern cars are pretty easy to pigeonhole. You’ve got city cars, sports cars, hatchbacks and estates plus the increasingly rare saloons alongside the evergrowing tide of SUVS.
But every so often you get a car that doesn’t really fit comfortably into one of those brackets. A car like the Suzuki Ignis.
Viewed from a distance you’d assume this was a serious SUV poised to show the soft Nissan Juke, Renault Captur or Ford Ecosport how to do things properly – an idea bolstered by its distinctively chunky design and Suzuki’s pedigree in building tough 4x4s.
But get up close and you realise it’s about the size of a shoe, or perhaps a Kia Picanto, and for all its rugged design, it’s powered by a 1.2-litre engine with just 82bhp and most versions are front-wheel-drive.
Suzuki says it is the world’s only ultra-compact SUV, which is stretching the definition of SUV but it’s hard to
think how else to describe it. Its footprint is closer to a city car than a B-SUV but it looks and feels more rugged than “Suvinspired” models like the Honda Crosstar or Kia Picanto X.
In a market that’s dominated by bland, interchangeable bodyshells, the Ignis stands out for its size, its boxy shape and chunky yet strangely cute styling. Like the Jimny it balances in small and lovable looks with an air of ruggedness and 2020 brought a new grille and bumpers to enhance its SUV styling.
The interior received a similarly subtle refresh last year with new trim and upholstery colours and a new instrument display. Those minor changes haven’t done much to raise the look and feel of the cabin, which is in keeping with the chunky styling of the exterior butcan’treallybackuptherugged image. There’s an appealing simplicity to the design but, as in other Suzukis, the materials show where money has been saved. While the main controls feel solid, some of the buttons and obvious areas like the dash and door tops are finished in distinctly thin and scratchy feeling plastics. And for all the instruments are new, they still look old-fashioned in 2021.
What it lacks in material bling, the Ingis makes up for in practicality. At 3.7m long and 1.66m wide, it’s closer to a city car than any SUV but manages to offer impressive levels of room for four passengers. A high roof means it feels roomy and the upright seating position helps create rear legroom that some larger SUVS can’t rival. Even the boot isn’t as tiny as you’d expect, with a respectable 267 litres of luggage space – not far off that in a Ford Fiesta. Throw in a slightly raised ride height that aids entry and offers good visibility and you’re onto a winner.
If you face the kind of conditions where additional traction comes in handy, the Ignis even has that covered. Splash out on top-spec SZ5 and you can have Allgrip permanent four-wheel-drive with hill descent and grip control.
While it can cope with a bit of the sticky/slippy stuff, the Ignis is still more at home in the city. The controls are light and the steering quick – ideal for nipping among the urban traffic – and the ride has that slight lumpiness that comes with the short wheelbase of many city cars. On faster roads it feels settled enough – more than you might expect from its tall, narrow appearance – but there’s still some wobbling in the corners and not a whole lot of feedback. More of an issue is the intrusive amount of noise at anything above 50mph. This is not a car you could drive at high speeds for long periods.
There’s also the issue that it takes quite some time to get to those speeds. The 1.2-litre engine is a new mild hybrid unit with a 12V integrated starter-generator to offer a little torque boost at start up and under acceleration. With just 82bhp it’s not going to win any races and feels like it’s working very hard at higher speeds but it will return an easy 51mpg in real-world driving and around town its lack of oomph is less apparent.
Most day-to-day equipment demands are met by the topof-the range SZ5, although it doesn’t feel quite as advanced as some similarly priced cars. Features such as cruise control, sat nav, auto air con and keyless entry set it apart from lesser models along with lane departure warning and electric windows all round. Sliding rear seats, a seven-inch touchscreen and smartphone mirroring are shared with the SZ-T trim as are the rear-view camera, flared wheel arches and roof rails.
The Ignis is a bit of a curiosity in today’s motoring landscape. It’s compact yet spacious, has four-wheel-drive and rugged looks but is far more at home in the city, and is well equipped but old-fashioned feeling. If you can forgive its flaws, it’s a quirky and characterful alternative to the bland mainstream.