HOW TO FIX ASTON MARTIN
Aston has a new CEO – welcome to the job Tobias Moers. Now put your feet up, we’ve done the hard work for you
PUT THE KETTLE ON
Congratulations on the new job, Herr Moers. Aston is quintessentially British, recognised the world over – like Harris Tweed, London Underground or the Queen. Even the latter comes with a few German underpinnings, but no one really minds.
It will be important to get to know the British ways (a proper cuppa should be top of the to-do list, along with a crumpet and Marmite followed by fish and chips for dinner), but by all means bring along with you some of that German efficiency and build quality. Aston Martin could use it.
MAKE GOOD CARS AND MAKE THEM WELL
What is luxury, really? Is it a bone-crunching sportster or a velvety smooth grand tourer? Rather, let’s put it this way – if you were going to drive back to Baden-Württemberg from Warwickshire, what car would you choose for the job? When it comes down to the essentials, what Aston Martin does best is make luxury grand tourers – let’s call them posher, faster Jaguars. So focus on that.
STRENGTHEN THE BRAND
It’s a sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in, but frankly the world doesn’t need any more Cygnets, fancy blocks of flats or rebadged submarines.
Aston Martin wasn’t so much floated in 2018 as tied in a bag with rocks and thrown off a bridge. The shareholders will like the fact that there’s a new dog in charge at Gaydon, but you’re going to need to portray strength, stability and capability all at the same time.
The press release following your appointment made a big deal about your efforts at AMG doubling the range and quadrupling sales. Beware, though – chasing volume will take you right into the sort of dangerous territory occupied by better funded mass market rivals like BMW and Mercedes.
STOP RELYING ON THE SPECIAL EDITIONS
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and of course the world never needed a specially painted DBS to mark the anniversary of Concorde, or a DBS Superleggera Tag Heuer complete with free watch. Experience should tell us that whoever is working on the NHS Heroes Rapide or 75th anniversary World War Two Vantage needs to down tools straight away.
A cleverly done one-off (that actually is a bit special) can create a buzz around a brand, perhaps stir some interest in a run-out model. But a constant stream of trinkets designed for billionaires’ garages makes you look a bit nervous.
DON’T WASTE MONEY ON F1
It’s probably a bit late to put the brakes on the new F1 effort, but let’s face it, this is likely to end in disaster. How many carmakers have entered Formula One and made a success of it? Ferrari and McLaren were racing teams first, and of the carmakers arguably only Mercedes has done a decent job – everyone else ends up leaving with egg on their faces.
And where is F1 going to be in the next couple of years? It’s suffering from an embarrassingly public identity crisis and right now seems like a dicey moment to be committing to a manufacturer works team.
Of course, with Mr Stroll’s tight control of the purse strings it looks like you’re stuck there for a little while. If the F1 team can be trusted to get on without sucking up resources from the middle (and maybe even make some money), no harm done.
BUILD AN EV
What a shame to have cancelled the electric Rapide just when electric cars are starting to have an impact on the market, it all looked a little flat-footed. And Aston dithered with the SUV. Don’t do that again. Just get on and make it happen. A luxurious, long-range EV is right up Aston’s street.
Sure, it’s an expensive business, but with all those big engines you’re shipping in from AMG, surely Merc has an electric platform you could borrow? Or you could phone up a British outfit with merchandise on its hands – Williams, say, or maybe even that nice Mr Dyson.
DROP LAGONDA
Lagonda might be up there on your new letterhead, but it’s a dead brand. It has ceased to be. And what does it really stand for? It’s all very well trying to launch a chunky electric SUV on to the market, but that space is getting increasingly crowded and any new car from Aston doesn’t need what is effectively a brand new nameplate dragging it down.
Think about it – that nice, comfortable electric SUV concept ticks all the right boxes for the Aston Martin badge. Do the sensible thing and ditch Lagonda – all of the money that would have been spent trying to establish that brand can be much better spent elsewhere.