Up to 30 buyers are reported to be interested in buying Aston Martin from Ford, and none of them are other automakers. According to the U.K.’s Guardian Unlimited, a bidding war could push the price of the company over £1 billion ($1.9 billion).
Interested buyers are required to submit their initial bids by the end of the month, according to the report. The list of interested parties is made up of private equity firms and wealthy individuals, the newspaper said.
So far, no automaker has come forward to express an interest in Aston. BMW recently said it has no desire to acquire the company. Analysts have also said a Japanese buyout of Aston Martin is unlikely. Accordingly, it looks like Aston Martin might become and independent organization — a rare arrangement in the automotive world these days.
11/06, 12:51 PM
posted by:
scottns
These cars have never been better. Hopefully this isn’t the begining of the end of AM.
11/06, 12:57 PM
posted by:
Endurancevm
I hope that if Aston Martin is bought by a private party that wont destroy the quality of the cars. Aston Martin was producing bad cars before they were renovated with new technology…so I hope the private parties would invest in development for Aston Martin…better than TVR’s owner.
11/06, 1:04 PM
posted by:
Brendino
“£1 billion ($1.9 billion)”
Dang, is our dollar really that weak?
11/06, 1:23 PM
posted by:
Stuart
Maybe the JCB owner should buy this then Jaguar. Plus now Aston is free from Ford it can buy the best parts such as automatic and manuals from other makes rather then the best ford has to offer.
Imagine for the Vantage facelift - New forthcoming M3 Engine, Volkswagen DSG gearbox with AM looks.
11/06, 1:25 PM
posted by:
Stuart
Plus now they can get involved in Formula 1.
One Question
Who owns the rights to the James Bond contract when Aston are brought out?
11/06, 1:56 PM
posted by:
Renton
This cool. Just like old days.
11/06, 2:01 PM
posted by:
A4
yeah lets hope it stays in britian too
11/06, 2:09 PM
posted by:
bepsf
What a shame - and so stupidly typicla for Ford.
Spend billions remaking a brand so that it finally becomes profitable, then sell it off for enough cash to offset a few weeks worth of losses elsewhere.
Bold Moves? Keep Aston & Jaguar/Land Rover and ditch Lincoln-Mercury…
11/06, 2:22 PM
posted by:
nowei
I really doubt that Aston will start buying a bunch of stuff from other manufacturers. One of the things that make them such an attractive buy, as I understand it, is the fact that, while much of their technology may be sourced from Ford technology, it’s all more or less unique and produced by Aston Martin.
Think of it like this. Ford is in the business of selling products, and Aston Martin as a company, is perhaps the best product Ford has put on the market in a while. And that’s not meant as a backhanded compliment.
/no
11/06, 3:24 PM
posted by:
meanpants555
Where would Aston then get their parts? How would development work without the type of resources that Ford was putting into them? I don’t think Aston on its own is a good idea.
11/06, 3:58 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Brendino: I think you mean “is our dollar really that strong”. Back before the turn of the 21st century, IINM a pound was around 3.6 US dollars at least…and it used to be much worse before that (5-8 US dollars).
11/06, 4:17 PM
posted by:
moogleii
I just stopped by London a few months ago. Ohhhh my god. The prices are insane. My friend got a burger meal from the hotel for £9 (almost $18). Granted it was a hotel, but still…nearly everything there is 1:1 to the US equivalent in terms of numeric price, so if you factor in the exchange rate almost everything is double the price there.
11/06, 6:47 PM
posted by:
A4
I dont really know why Ford would want to get rid of Mercury at this point. Everyone of their cars is just a revamp of the Ford model, so it probably costs them the 36 bucks for the chrome and maybe another 100 for the LED’s in the taillights.. Mercurys are pretty darn good as of late, particularly the Milan and the Mariner. If i had to choose between a milan and the fusion id take the milan. The Montego does the best it can with the dog**** Five Hundred, and the Monterey does the same with the dog**** Freestar. Maybe they should also take a page out of the Saturn/Opel handbook and give Mercury some Euro-Only offerings. I agree they should kill off Lincoln though.. their only good offering is the Zephyr… i mean MKwhatever.
11/06, 9:08 PM
posted by:
Veda
Unless AM is Ferrari, good luck on making a real super car in the future. I guess there goes my plan for the Vantage…
11/06, 11:10 PM
posted by:
A4
AM makes ford look good… and ford makes AM look good… its a shame they have to get rid of them
11/07, 11:10 AM
posted by:
bepsf
Even Ferrari is owned by Fiat…
11/07, 5:04 PM
posted by:
Bobzooki
Aston Martin will not survive as an independent