Aston Martin is preparing to crowdfund the old-fashioned way — shares and bonds — its portfolio expansion, per sources close to the automaker.
Reuters reports the funds will be used to expand the Aston portfolio to include crossovers, hybrids and premium sedans, as well as add three years to the company’s ongoing recovery plan, with the planned deadline to come in 2020. The fundraising plan — based on debt- or equity-raising options made to current investors — would bring in £100 million – £150 million ($156 million – $234 million USD).
The news comes as Aston Martin bids farewell to 2014, which began with a recall of 17,590 units over counterfeit accelerator pedals from a Chinese supplier. Last month, the automaker was granted an exemption from United States safety regs for the DB9 and Vantage. It also gained a new CEO this year, when Andy Palmer left Renault-Nissan to take up where Ulrich Bez left off upon retirement in 2013.
The DBS is my favorite Aston Martin, but it only speaks to the weakness of either the product or the marketing that AM would have to crowdfund in order to earn enough to expand. These cars don’t offer anything to talk about like similarly priced sports cars beyond exclusivety.
How peripheral and insignificant must a manufacturer be before its model lineup becomes a “portfolio”?
Merriam-Webster:
port·fo·lio
noun pȯrt-ˈfō-lē-ˌō
” a set of pictures (as drawings or photographs) usually bound in book form or loose in a folder ”
I guess all you need is some pretty pictures in a briefcase and you’re good to go
John Krafcik, TrueCar president, before a luncheon with the Automotive Press Association:
“My concern is automakers may not have the flexibility they need if things should shift very, very quickly. As an industry, we become comfortable with our product portfolio. The reality is, these companies have to be thinking ahead 10 years about different scenarios.”
Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2014/11/05/automakers-must-diversify-portfolio/18526757/
“As an industry, we become comfortable with our product…” ASSORTMENT
product assortment:
“The collection of goods or services that a business provides to consumers. The main characteristics of a company’s product assortment are: (1) its length or number of products, (2) its breadth or number of product lines, (3) its depth or number of product varieties within a product line and (4) its consistency or how products relate to each other in a retail environment.” – Business Dictionary
There, fixed it for him, unless of course he meant pretty pictures in a folder
Melody Lee’s species is numerous.
Aston Martin, another “storied” brand with stale, outrageously priced & notoriously impractical and unreliable vehicles upon which Jeremy Clarkson can pontificate during a “best of Britain” special while filling the hearts & chests of all Brits with national pride (while Britain sinks further into its era of middle class wipeout & even more “British” companies being purchased outright by Indian, Chinese & Malaysian, et al firms).
They win on the track, all else is noise and distraction.