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Deadline: 21.11.2022

STRATEGIQUE MANAGEMENT: Aston Martin

Aston Martin has always had issues with revenue covering the expenses. At his current state,
the company has been bought 5 times between 1947 and 2018, and it is now own by the
Canadian investor, Lawrence Stroll (Aston Martin). The relevant question today is: Why do
investors and banks keep buying Aston Martin that has debt and why does Aston Martin have
financial issues. In order to respond to the question, we are going to focus on strengths and
weaknesses based on an internal analysis.

First, the strengths of Aston Martin will be presented.

The position of Aston Martin is not to be compared to the rest of industry. Before identifying
the different strengths of this car company, it is necessary to understand, what consumer they
are targeting. Aston Martin is a luxury car company for people that own already several cars.
Its direct competitors are Ferrary, Maserati, Bentley… (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden).
Aston Martin has then as a first powerful strength its position. It is known and it produced a
high brand equity with a powerful heritage.
Moreover, they had the idea of hiring extremely competent engineers for the powerful of cars.
Even though that seems like an unnecessary cost, Aston Martin based its brand personality
around the fact that cars last a lifetime, as 95% of the cars they created since beginning are still
running in condition (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden).
The revolutionary ideas of Aston Martin, and especially Andy Palmer, is the hiring of expert in
design to let the client choose the design of their future car to the smallest detail. This great
strength also shows the market position of Aston Martin once again, with a very professional
and skilled company.
The company Aston Martin is also trying to always be at the edge of technologies and innovate.
They are trying to innovate into the technological features of the cars, even if Aston Martin’s
aesthetic is the brand itself. They also are trying to implant digital devices to provide safety or
to emphases with what the consumer bought the car for such as features that help car drivers to
drift like they are on a racing track. This combines another great strength of Aston Martin: their
strong position on the racing market. They have been ranking 7th in 2021 as Formula One World
Championship (Formula 1® - the Official F1® Website).
One last strength that should be mentioned in this internal analysis is their efficient marketing.
As Aston martin is only targeting the richest, they are not using a mass marketing, but they are
more focusing on strategic advertisement. For instance, they collaborate with the producers of
the movie James Bond, in which they put a DB5, which is now referred as the James Bond’s
car. This genius move, help Aston Martin in increasing their searches for pre-owned Aston
Martin of 75% in 2021(Chilton, C).

Now let’s focus on the weaknesses of Aston Martin.

The main weakness is the lack of different markets. As one of their greater strengths is their
history and their design of model, Aston Martin isn’t really trying to penetrate other market
such as SUVs or hybrid cars, ect… They don’t want their consumer to identify them with
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cheapest, less historical cars. However, this leads to less sales and then less revenues. It also a
weakness because as the regulation and demand is shifting toward more respectful cars for the
environment, they are losing potential customers by not adjusting.
Another point to consider is the narrow range of the portfolio of Aston Martin. This weakness
tends to come from the fact that they create extremely precise cars with an incredible quality.
Despite this quality, having fewer choices makes it difficult for customers to choose among
those available.
A crucial point for Aston Martin is the few existing points of sale. The company receives many
orders for its products, but it is difficult for many customers to reach them when they need
them.
Aston Martin also has numerous liquidity problems which impact the company's image and
have a measurable weakness. This problem is also partly due to a lack of loyalty on the part of
its franchise employees. Since they have many franchises, it is difficult to monitor every
employee that fools them (NVWW Automotive).
The last point that needs to be discuss is the dependence of the Aston Martin on dealer for sales
and promotion. This leads to a weakness if the company can’t have contact with the clients.

To conclude, how can the major point discussed in the strengths and weakness analysis can take
advantage of the benefits and overcome the rough point through some changes?
First, it is mandatory that Aston martin opens itself to new markets. We can see that it is
changing as they plan to launch their first electric car by 2025 as described in their Second
Century Plan (J.P. Morgan Equities Research Reports New York ). The need to open to new market
could be also to launch SUVs or model that are affordable for less richer consumers. This idea
should help also to overcome the narrow portfolio they currently offer.
They should also keep the advantage of the fact that they have a unique position in historic
English sport cars. They could promote this position through events that are watch by wealthy
rich English consumers such as event like polo or horse ride.
They should also take advantage of their technological advance features and promote it.

Despite the weaknesses, it is noticeable that there are more strengths in the company of Aston
Martin. One question remains, how can Aston Martin adapt to different markets without losing
its image as a quality luxury company?

References:

1- Aston Martin Heritage. Aston Martin. (n.d.). https://www.astonmartin.com/en/our-

world/heritage
2- Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. 100 Jahre Aston Martin. ATZ Automobiltech Z 115,
30–37 (2013). (Springer Link) https://doi-org.nukweb.nuk.uni-lj.si/10.1007/s35148-
013-0009-3
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3- Standings. (n.d.). Formula 1® - the Official F1® Website.
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/team.html
4- Chilton, C. (2021, October 5). ‘No Time To Die’ Bond Movie Boosts Used Aston Martin
Searches By 75%, Which Would You Buy? Carscoops.
https://www.carscoops.com/2021/10/no-time-to-die-bond-movie-boosts-used-aston-
martin-searches-by-75-which-would-you-buy/
5- NVWW Automotive. Noise & Vibration Worldwide. (2003, December) ;34(11):3-6.
doi:10.1260/095745603322986038 (Sage journals)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1260/095745603322986038
6- Asumendi, Jose M., J.P. Morgan Equities Research Reports New York. (2022, July 4).
Aston Martin Lagonda: Q2 2022 preview: supply chain disruption and unfinished stock.
(Proquest)
https://www.proquest.com/pq1business/docview/2688508353/fulltextPDF/E593193E
B33F485DPQ/5?accountid=28926