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WHEN Aston Martin floated on the London Stock Exchange last year, the British icon sought a lofty valuation of £5bn.

But this was lowered before it even listed, and the £4.3bn debut, at 1900p a share, proved a flop. The shares are now worth 604.2p – valuing James Bond’s favourite car maker at just £1.38bn.

That means Aston has lost £2.95bn of value since – or £9.9m a day.

In almost every update provided to the market the firm has disappointed, while falling demand in the key markets of China and Europe have hammered its performance.

This week, Aston stoked fears further with a disastrous revenue warning that it will sell fewer cars this year than it originally predicted. It also warned profits were set to suffer as a result.

The update sent its stock into freefall, wiping a quarter off its value in one trading day.

Aston has vowed to tackle the malaise by slashing costs and its ‘Second Century’ plan aims to deliver seven new luxury models in seven years.

If boss Andy Palmer can fix the engine while it is still running, this could be a great time to buy Aston shares.

But beware – it could turn out to be a car crash.