I know Aston Martin, you know Aston Martin, I know Mercedes, you or your dad probably drives a Mercedes. If you do, you’ll probably be proud to know that soon, in every Aston Martin, there will be a little bit of Mercedes.
While the global economy is at its worst in years, sales of top-end luxury products are on the rise, and the new owners of Aston Martin are looking to capitalize on that trend. Plans are already in place to increase Aston’s production from 7,000 units to 8,000 units in 2008. The new owners though seemingly want more, with their representatives going around meeting companies like Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Daimler to leverage the Aston Martin brand with high end luxury products, the merchandising revenue is expected to increase from $100m to up to $300m.
Besides that, DAR’s business development manager, Adham Charanoglu suggested that Aston Martin and Mercedes could one day collaborate on everything from platforms to powertrains. And it all makes sense because minority owner Ford will soon be without Jaguar meaning development costs could go up if Tata decides to break off ties with Ford and Aston Martin. It’s pretty obvious that if there was any form of partnership, Aston will fairly expect only high-end Mercedes products. So start expecting a S-Class based Aston Martin anytime before 2013 if the partnership does go through.
