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By Yadarisa Shabong
(Reuters) – Aston Martin is delaying the launch of its first electric car due to a lack of customer demand, it said on Wednesday, as records for its luxury models and special editions helped the British carmaker cut its annual losses.
Aston Martin will now launch its battery electric vehicle (BEV) in 2026, a year later than planned, making it the new automaker to delay its electrification targets as investments in capacity and generation have outpaced demand for electric vehicles.
“Consumer demand (for BEVs), at the Aston Martin price point, is not what we imagined it would be two years ago,” Chief Executive Lawrence Stroll told reporters.
Stroll said there’s “a much more powerful demand” for plug-in hybrids, especially for a company like Aston Martin, as other people “want some electrification . . . but still having the smell, feel and sound of sports cars. “
Aston Martin’s first hybrid supercar, the Valhalla, is expected to arrive this year.
The company’s annual pre-tax losses more than halved in 2023, less than market expectations, after the promotion hit record levels when it delivered its Valkyrie models and other special-edition cars.
Mercedes-Benz pushed back its electrification target by five years before this month and was confident investors it would stick with its combustion engine models.
Last June, Aston Martin signed a deal with Saudi-backed Lucid Group to bolster its electrification strategy.
Stroll, who downplayed concerns about the festival by Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, added that he was pleased with the battery generation and platforms available to the company.
PIVOT
Aston Martin, the car logo of choice for fictional secret agent James Bond, has been through a rough patch since it debuted on the market in 2018.
However, the largest shareholder, Stroll, has been looking to bolster its money and margins by launching next-generation sports cars, the newest being the new Vantage sports style unveiled this month.
Shares of the automaker were down 2% by 10:47 GMT as investors worried about their money and volumes.
Aston Martin had hoped to turn its loose money positive in the fourth quarter, but was hit by the delivery schedule for its DB12 and Valor models.
He now hopes to generate money in the second part of this year.
“Aston Martin is pumping huge sums of money into marketing to try and position itself in the ultra-luxury segment. This turnaround will never be cheap,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, an analyst at Hargreaves.
Aston Martin reported an adjusted pre-tax loss of 171. 8 million pounds ($217. 4 million) for the year ended Dec. 31, down from 451 million pounds a year earlier.
Analysts had expected an average loss of £209 million, according to a consensus drawn up by the company.
The company kept its short- and medium-term guidance unchanged.
($1 = 0. 7904 pounds)
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bangalore; editing by Miral Fahmy and Mark Potter)