22 Mar 07
It's a good thing the late Victor Kiam didn't have his name down for a new Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster. He might have liked it so much that he wanted to buy the company, just as he bought the Remington shaver firm. He'd have been too late, however: the company has already been bought.
We've reported on the David Richards-fronted, Kuwaiti-backed buyout already, but the deal's timing was impeccable. It was announced the day before Aston Martin set the press corps loose in the Roadster, so there were happy Gaydon-based faces all around.
During our evening at the launch base at Gordes, in the south of France near Avignon, Dr Ulrich Bez (who continues as CEO) could barely contain his joy at being unleashed from the constraints of Ford's systems and procedures. He could spend the new investment money directly on new cars now. (Apparently the Rapide saloon was by no means a certainty under Ford's control, but now it's definite.)
Now that David Richards' consortium has taken control, Dr Bez can talk more about what the press viewed as rival bids.
Asked about the various luxury-goods brands thought to be in the frame, he was dismissive. 'These companies are used to operating with a margin of 30%,' he said, 'but for a car company it's just 5%. We have to meet safety, emissions and durability standards and that is very expensive. You don't need to crash-test a handbag.' Serious bidders also tend not to publicise their intentions, he added.
As for the new Roadster, it's more significant than you might at first think. It is, in fact, a new kind of Aston Martin, a proper open two-seat sports car rather than a sportingly flavoured open tourer. That's why it's called Roadster and not Volante, and the driving experience it offers is far removed from that of the current wearer of the Volante name, the open DB9.
