Aston Martin boosts revenues and slashes losses in 2021

Aston Martin's revenues soared last year as its new management team's plan to improve profitability and cut losses took hold. Sales climbed 82% to 6178 units in 2021 – a reflection of 2020's pandemic-impacted operations – and the firm expects to sell more than 6600 units in 2022 as it expands its product line-up. As a result, revenue was up 79% to £1.1 billion (a 14% increase on pre-pandemic 2019) and pre-tax losses were slashed from £466 million to £214m. Aston Martin says this reduction in losses comes "despite increased investment in brand and marketing activities" as well as higher depreciation and the amortisation of its £13m government furlough payout. The financial improvements are a result of the impact of the marque's Project Horizon transformation strategy, implemented by new CEO Tobias Moers and chairman Lawrence Stroll. Ultimately, Aston is aiming for 10,000 sales, revenues of £2bn and £500m pre-tax earnings by 2024/2025. Influential factors in Aston's revenue increase included reducing the number of front-engined sports cars built for wholesale, launching a new configurator, which trebled leads to dealerships, and reducing manufacturing costs by 20%. In addition, the average selling price (ASP) of an Aston Martin (excluding special models) climbed from £136,000 to £150,000 in 2021. Stroll called his second year at the helm of Aston "another of significant progress". He said: "We have successfully transitioned our operating model to that of an ultra-luxury performance brand, with customer demand well ahead of supply. Our core business is strong and delivered to plan, with substantially improved profitability." The DBX SUV continued to be the brand's strongest-selling model by a comfortable margin, accounting for around half of its global sales and taking a 20% share of its segment. Notably, around half of DBX customers are new to Aston Martin. The brand expects the addition of a mild-hybrid derivative in China and the new DBX 707 performance flagship to ensure the model's continued popularity. It also launched the hardcore new Vantage F1 Edition, which, it says, "was well received by customers generating strong sales". It will follow this up with the launch of the more potent Vantage V12 in third quarter of 2022, which, it says is "attracting excellent customer demand". Deliveries of the V12-engined Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar were heavily delayed by what Aston calls a "quality-focused approach" to its sign-off, and so the first cars only began to reach customers in December 2021. However, it notes that all coupés are sold out and the forthcoming Valkyrie Spider was two times oversubscribed at launch. Stroll said the Valkyrie programme, which was under way when he joined in 2020, "pushes the boundaries of what is possible to bring to market outside an F1 racing environment", and that "while it was disappointing that some deliveries were rescheduled", he is confident the remaining cars will reach customers "with no compromises". Aston plans to deliver between 75 and 90 Valkyrie models in 2022, up from 10 in 2021. Overall, the firm plans to increase sales by 8% in 2022 and boost pre-tax earnings by 50% from the core business. Crucial to this will be the launch of two new models, the DBX 707 and V12 Vantage, which are said to be more profitable than "prior models". The brand expects the first quarter of 2022 to be its slowest, as it ramps up Valkyrie production and prepares for new range additions, but it says its teams remain focused on mitigating the impact of the supply chain crisis and ultimately it plans to sell 6600 cars this year.