Aston Martin Is Burning Through $1.8 Million a Day

Dwindling demand in China and lackluster DBX sales signal tough times ahead for the storied British carmaker.

aston martin vanquish 2025 in red

Photo by: Aston Martin

Brian Silvestro

By: Brian Silvestro

Nov 4, 2024 at 3:40pm ET

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Aston Martin has spent over half a billion dollars this year, or around $1.8 million per day.
The company has posted a pre-tax loss of $295 million following supply disruptions and weakening China demand.
Production forecasts were cut by roughly 1,000 vehicles at the end of September.

Aston Martin isn't in a very good place right now. Last week the British carmaker revealed a third-quarter loss of £10.3 million ($13.4 million) before taxes. While that beat estimates, the persistent losses mean that Aston has burned through $509 million this year, or over $1.8 million per day.

The numbers come following Aston Martin's updated sales forecast released in September, which warned of diminished annual profits and a cut in production of around 1,000 cars for the year, citing supply disruptions and weakening demand in China. So far, Aston has posted pre-tax losses of £228 million ($295 million) through the end of September.

Delivery numbers released on September 30 revealed a decrease in sales by 17 percent year-to-date, from 4,398 cars to 3,639 units in the same nine-month period. Sales of the DBX have cratered by 52 percent, and now represent just 30 percent of all sales. This time last year, the sporty SUV accounted for more than half of all Aston Martins sold, according to The Times.

AstonMartinVanquish_SupernovaRed_©AndyMorgan_053

Photos by: Brian Silvestro / Motor1 / Aston Martin

The sales numbers aren't all doom and gloom. Deliveries of Aston's sports cars—the Vantage and the DB12—are up by 16 percent year-over-year thanks to the ramp-up of production for the Vantage. That number should climb even further once deliveries of the Vanquish begin later this year and into 2025. Sales of the company's "Specials," which include ultra-exclusive cars like the Valour and the Valkyrie, are up by 132 percent, or 90 vehicles.

This newest set of numbers means Aston has given up on being cashflow break-even by the end of the year, according to The Times. Even worse, it's taken on a large amount of debt, having increased its net borrowings by nearly 50 percent, to £1.21 billion ($1.57 billion). That's about 40 percent higher than the entire value of the company, says The Times.

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Despite what the numbers might suggest, CEO Adrian Hallmark remains hopeful.

“Improved financial and operational performance in Q3 2024, demonstrates our strategy’s effectiveness," Hallmark said in a statement on September 30. "We are on track to meet our revised Full Year 2024 guidance, which reflects the necessary action taken in September to adjust our production volumes given supplier disruption, which we are proactively managing, and the weak macroeconomic environment in China.”