Prodrive buy Aston Martin - News on Page 4 from different members

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Source: 4car

Motorsport consultancy Prodrive is in discussions with Ford over the purchase of Aston Martin. The Prodrive group - which has been running Aston Martin's racing teams - is reported to have offered nearly $450 million for the company, and is said to be in talks with investors from the US and Middle East about funding the deal.

Ford put Aston Martin up for sale last year in a bid to offload its non-core assets and raise some ready cash. A large number of potential buyers have been identified by the media, including the LMVH luxury goods brand, but one by one these have dropped out of the bidding or been dismissed by Ford as inappropriate.

The latest to withdraw its offer has been investment capital firm Doughty Hanson, which is said to have pulled out after finding that many issues previously paid for by Ford, such as safety testing, pensions and executive car perks, had not been included in the accounts it was shown. An announcement about Aston's sale is expected from Ford within days.
 
Prodrive or Louis Vuitton? Hmmmm, I'll have to think about that for at least 0.0000001 of a second! I hope Ford do too.
 
-> I would love Prodrive to manage Aston instead of Lois Viutton, given by thier racing expertise thoughout the field (STi's in WRC, Ferrari and Aston in the LM). It will boast Aston's credibility in the racing scene.

-> And with the help of AM, maybe they would build this as a seperate entity (just like Toyota and Scion):

prodrive-p2-5.jpg


:drool:
 
Hmm, Prodrive buying out Aston could be a mixture of good and bad..

But seeing as Prodrive are entering F1 in 2008, maybe they would run Aston Martin engines or even call the team Aston Martin F1..
 
DWA
Can they buy TVR too instead of them coming to the US?
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Hopefully a Motorsport company like Prodrive can buy TVR as well, but it would be hard for this to happen if Prodrive wanted to buy TVR, while owning Aston Martin However I think Aston Martin deserves to be brought by Prodrive, since they have done really great with the Aston Martin DBR9 in the FIA Bracket of racing.
 
I think it would be best for a team who races Aston Martins (and successfully) to buy Aston Martin themselves.
 
Yes! Prodrive is exactly the sort of company I'd like to see running Aston Martin. Seeing as they run the racing team anyway it seems like a good move. :)

*Wanders off to start dreaming of what Prodrive/Tickford could do to the Vantage.* :drool: :lol:
 
I have to agree with everyone else (yah, big surprise). Prodrive is exactly what AM needs to take on Ferrari & Porsche. If the V8 Vantage Prodrive was a solid improvement, ownership should produce some truly outstanding cars.
 
Aston Martin don't really take on Ferrari, they build cars generally aimed at different markets. The Vanquish which is soon going out of production in someways competes with the 599 buyers wise, and only the AM V8 is targeted at 911 buyers. There's not much customer crossover between these companies. If you mean in motorsport terms, the ProDrive are already the company behind the DBR9's.
 
Im sure it would be great, but I must wonder about Prodrive's wallet. Racing isnt very profitable, and they have plans for F1. I would think that it would be a choice between running in F1 or purchasing Aston Martin. though, Im not Prodrive's accountant, so I really dont know any better. Could someone clarify where Richards gets his money?
 
My take is that Aston Martin would have far more funding and a much more satisfying freedom to do what they want to do under a large unmerella like LVHM rather than ProDrive. I respect ProDrive and I'm sure they would try to do right by the company, but I have a big question mark over their ability to fully fund a company like Aston Martin as well as continue running ProDrive.
 
harrytuttle
I have to agree with everyone else (yah, big surprise). Prodrive is exactly what AM needs to take on Ferrari & Porsche. If the V8 Vantage Prodrive was a solid improvement, ownership should produce some truly outstanding cars.
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Technically, ProDrive has already been using Aston Martin to take on Ferrari and Porsche in the FIA. They haven't been that successful though against Porsche in the GT3 Championship.
 
The folks at Leftlane seem to think the sale is probably going to happen...

LLN.com
Ford is likely to announce the sale of its Aston Martin brand to racing firm Prodrive, according to reports by Reuters and the Telegraph. "It's a done deal. All that remains is to cross the t's and dot the i's," said a senior source told the U.K. newspaper.

Sources at the Geneva Motor Show told the Telegraph the sale would be complete by the end of the week. The Reuters news agency reported much the same thing, saying the $900 million deal could be finalized this week.

Ford announced in August it intended to sell the company in order to raise capital. In November, it was reported Aston Martin would likely become an independent car company, since no major automaker expressed an interest in acquiring the marquee.

umors that Aston Martin would be been sold to luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton (LVMH) surfaced earlier this year, and were promptly shot down as "absolute rubbish."

Prodrive revealed a tuning package for the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. The company tuned the 4.3 litre V8 engine to raise peak power from 380 hp to 425 hp, as well as increasing peak torque from 302 lb/ft to 325 lb/ft. This reduces the car's 0-62 mph time from 5.0 secs to 4.7 secs (est).

CEO Dr Ulrich Bez is likely to remain at the head of Aston, and Ford will retain a small stake in the company.
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Hmmm. Well, I'm just happy to hear that they should have a solid foundation to sit on. Prodrive should do well running the company, so here is to a profitable and glorious future!
 
I do too. I'm not sure who is doing what over what anymore. I just wish they would make up their damn minds with Aston and TVR...
 
Jaguar is staying with Ford... At least, that is what Ford is saying...
 
Better yet! They're doing a Mondeo-based X-Type!

Whaoo!!! CD3-2!!!
 
YSSMAN
Hmmm. Well, I'm just happy to hear that they should have a solid foundation to sit on. Prodrive should do well running the company, so here is to a profitable and glorious future!
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How solid a foundation is ProDrive really, does anyone know enough about ProDrives ability to fund such an outfit as Aston Martin to a level that would satisfy. If they have that ability then I'm all for it, if not, then definitely not.
 
Prodrive are as most know going into F1 next year. Some have speculated the team will be known as Aston Martin Racing (or something similar).
I could'nt say if that's good or bad. Ford and Jaguar have tried before and didn't do too well. Dave Richards, head of Prodrive, does at least have knowledge of F1 from BAR days (the 2005 season?).
But is it Prodrive alone? I thought it was some kind of consortium? I'm still not sure why Ford is selling AML anyway.
 

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