A strong rumour, yes rumour, going around is that Mercedes-Benz is working on a plan to cease control of Aston Martin. This rumour originally grew roots in February when Adham Charonoglu, of Aston’s Kuwaiti majority shareholder Investment DAR, thinly suggested that a tie-up between Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin would make a lot of sense, financially and in other automotive ways. Could Merc be now looking seriously at this proposition?
Officially no one is saying. However, McLaren and Merc end their SLR collaboration by 2009, and the German company will be looking at replacing it from in-house, probably straight from AMG or possibly elsewhere. Aston Martin could present a great option for Merc going forward in the premium sports car segment. The sharing of technology would help Aston Martin to a great degree as it increases its sales footprint around the globe and parts becoming more and more expensive to make.
RUMORS: Mercedes Wants to Buy Aston Martin!
SLR exit could pave the way
Aston Martin / Aston Martin: up for Mercedes-Benz?
Comments
BENZian
April 4, 2008 11:55 PM
Yes, yes, yes ! I can't wait to see the AMG 6.3 V8 in an Aston Martin Vantage or the superb AMG V12 for the new Rapide & DBS. This makes sense for both companies in many ways...economies of scale, platform sharing, engines...
carcrazy1234
April 4, 2008 10:52 PM
oh god....who owns aston martin at the moment? not ford anymore right?
Blaconque
April 5, 2008 5:50 PM
yes ... the owner of Aston Martin is some investers from USA and kuwait
m555david
April 4, 2008 11:12 PM
makes perfect sense. i honestly could not figure out the reasons behind the purchase of aston by kuwaiti investors. small company like that cannot survive on its own, because technology cost so much to develop and is not feasible because of the low volume production that aston currently has. The best solution is the marriage of synergies such as Mercedes in house R&D dept and Aston Martin's brand cache. By implementing that Aston Martin can actually be not just another expensive machine, but an expensive machine with state of the art technologies. I hope this will happen, i hate to see Aston Martin to go down in flames and it exactly what it will do in few years without major technology donor and mercedes can be just that donor:)))
mustang5507
April 4, 2008 11:47 PM
They ought to fix their own reliability issues before taking on such an iconic brand.
joseferreira
April 5, 2008 1:05 AM
I think it is better for AM being under ´Mercedes' control.. Good for both
muellr
April 5, 2008 12:04 AM
I'd rather see bmw step up, as it would compliment their portfolio better than mercs. Merc already has an SL and CLS etc, plus the screeming beemer engines in an Aston would scare the hell out of maserati or even ferrari or lambo.. and they'd have an instand 8 series and M1.! c'mon munich!
odysseus
April 5, 2008 1:27 AM
the V8 from the M3 in an aston like the vantage - that would be perfect! it's an amazing machine: incredibly powerful but much more efficient in fuel consumption as the old lame thirsty jag V8!
swifthead
April 5, 2008 1:52 AM
Imagine those monstrous AMG engines in beautiful Aston??? A big N/A V8 6,2L, or supercharged troquey V8 Kompressor and 6.0L V12 for Rapide, with all that 1000Nm and 612HP!!! Yes that`s the combination for success, maybe we will even see the first time in history...the DIESEL powered Aston hahhahaha
radmeister
April 5, 2008 1:43 AM
It's not only about technology, which mercedes has an astonishing amount it could give to AM, but you must not forget Mercedes also owns McLaren, imagine a McLaren designed Aston with a Mercedes power plant. It would rock just like the Mercedes-McLaren F1 car.
unknown
April 5, 2008 3:05 AM
what are those dubains thinking??? they should of bought it in the first place
radmeister
April 5, 2008 2:16 AM
The ford shareholders would of never approved the direct sale of AM from ford to the hands of another manufacturer especially one that is already ahead of them in sales in the same markets, y u think they sold LR and Jag to TATA which is no competition. Maybe mercedes hired that firm to buy AM and get it out of the hands of Ford so that they could then buy it no prob from this firm.
unknown
April 5, 2008 7:32 PM
that's a good conspiracy theory. hire some rich middle eastern's that everyone thinks is going to turn the whole company around and then Daimler swoops them up or brain wash them that the whole idea was a bad one.
benz_man
April 5, 2008 4:25 AM
Yeah ummmm, I love MB products as much as the next guy, but remember what happened the last time Mercedes-Benz acquired a "historic company in need of a bank role"? I believe "the merger of equals" ended after one brand slowly and methodically liquidated huge amounts of the others assets, followed by a strong & sincere lack of investment in one brands R&D, then one brand peddling the losses down to the others blue-collar workers...
m555david
April 5, 2008 4:34 AM
if anything this is not the merger of equals. no point of you reminding us about that past experience. Aston Martin was bought for about 2 billion. If anything, aston martin can actually along with SL, CL, S and Maybach showcase Mercedes's Technology on their models, where as e-klasse and c-klasse will carry the tag of paying for those technologies..
benz_man
April 5, 2008 6:11 AM
You're correct, they CAN (and I personaly think should). But, Chrysler COULD be the bastion of German-American engineering, so why arent they...?
benz_man
April 5, 2008 6:20 AM
...Because it's blatantly obvious Mercedes is not interested in sharing the spotlight. And this is coming from a pseudonym named benz_man!
m555david
April 5, 2008 12:43 PM
unions and pension structure did prevent mercedes benz putting MORE money into the business. Mercedes learned the hard way not to mess with american corporate structure. that is why you see TOyota and nissan succeeding here. simply because they dont have unions and are not ready to carry the burden of pension plans, although ultimately they will face this dilemma when their workforce will get older. but hopefully by then Barak Obama will be able to address issues of american corporate downfall and save us from ourselves.
ck314
April 5, 2008 4:48 PM
lol come on, barak obama is a friggin joke, just as any other potential us president.. these are closely monitored from college years up to their canditature, when they're carefully handpicked, making sure they'll be servile pawns to the usury-industrial/military complex ruling elite (despite all the lies and faked two-party system).. and even if he got out of control and tried to act honestly, they'll simply get rid of him, like happened to j. kennedy.. ron paul would be a better choice by far
m555david
April 6, 2008 12:30 AM
ha ha...certainly there is a truth in what you are saying and our ruling elite will at least for a feasible future consist of Major WASP players. But given a failing infrastructure of US economy, sooner or later somebody will have to start making right decisions to keep our country on the top and i tend to think that we are at the end of this line and if decisions won't be made now...then say goodbye to middle class and say goodbye to economic dominance that our country has enjoyed. the fact is, Obama has so far surrounded himself with top notch young generation economists that are capable to change the infrastructure of american business. what happened to JFK is not suitable for our time, given that our society did evolve and entered the age of communication revolution. Midwestern states did not experience the loss of jobs as they do now. so situation got us to the point of no return and major changes will have to be made.:)
benz_man
April 6, 2008 4:49 AM
hey ck, I agree with your statements about the corruption in American politics. Pretty much, if Obama is a puppet, thats it for the American economy. The middle-class and lower class will fall from 1st world status. But, if he speaks truly, it just means we have a long way to go yet...with someone with the balls to lead the change. Oh, and for Astons sake Mercedes should def not buy Aston!
ck314
April 5, 2008 5:02 AM
Hell no, they would get rid of the manual gearboxes!! Ford was more competent regarding extreme sports cars settings than MB is (just look at the SLR...) Just let them stick to cozy SL , smooth S-class and autobahn rocket fast AMG's.
pzigly
April 5, 2008 6:31 AM
I hope benz dont mess with the engine of this car or the transmission. I would like to see benz help them with technology but not performance. Benz has not been able to get its power down to the ground because of its massive torque which is why there cars need auto trans. Plz benz do not kill the history of this car.....
122
April 5, 2008 6:01 AM
I hope this does not happen. Next thing you know every car will have german influence to it.
Fortunately at the end of the day, this is just a rumour.
dcars62
April 5, 2008 2:45 PM
Sounds like a merger of equals, I assume they'll change the name of the company to Daimler/Aston. Use the profits to fund M&B new designs. Fire all the designers and engineers. Move all RD to Germany. Reduce reliability, make some of the ugliest cars Aston has ever built and then call them a dog and then drop the shell of the company when things turn really bad.
Penner
April 5, 2008 3:33 PM
That'd be cool, let's hope they get no SL-facelift then...
And yes, Mercedes owns 40% of McLaren.
ghent2008
April 5, 2008 7:53 PM
stop all of you who can't even afford an Aston! Nobody cares whether Mercedes controls Aston or not! Quit whining!
german-cars-lover
April 5, 2008 10:19 PM
This is great .. if that happened , we'll see great models. Because of beautiful English designs and fantastic German technology .
Alluuu
April 5, 2008 10:58 PM
Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! Don't let them ruin Aston_Martin as well... They allready screwed up their own cars with design.... Why god oh why????
unknown
April 6, 2008 2:22 AM
Mercedes with Aston Martin....why not? I rather have them than Ford. Would you rather have Tata or Hyundai buying Aston? Daimler is profitable so they must be doing something right.
Joe_Limon
April 6, 2008 7:49 AM
hmm... hope AM helps mercs look nice, while merc updates AM tech... not the other way around... just imagine AM's that look like mercs... with the reliability of british engineering...
Bristol411S3
April 6, 2008 10:20 AM
I hoep this rumour and nothing else. I would not be against a partnership where Aston can use Daimler Benz technologies, but I would rather see Aston independent.
dbehmoaras
April 6, 2008 5:07 PM
i really hope this does not happen, if anyone should buy aston martin it should be bmw because they do not have a popular premium sports car line and i would rather see the 5.0 v10 in an aston than an amg v8 or v12, but aston should remain independent with some rich guy at the head with tons of money to spend and leave the aston guys to do their thing
alessandro
April 6, 2008 11:41 PM
Automotive industry was born and developed by quit a number of quit independent car builders. AM and MB are faced to the fact both, that now any development within car industry is an expensive but only way to survive.
_M7_
April 7, 2008 12:02 AM
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO imagine aston whit crap engines whit handling and electrical problems :S that will be sucide
driv3r
April 7, 2008 8:14 AM
Aston Martin needs technological inovation - that's for sure. Yes, it's a very good looking stylish and luxury cars, but performance... oh, c'mon. (English) traditions in this case must stay where they must stay.
norther
April 8, 2008 11:10 PM
usa and kuwait investors? ..i thought TATA owned AM. oh no, this cant be...a german aston..THIS IS 1940 ALL OVER AGAIN. im splitting my veins open..i wish i had some 300 billion dollars/euros and i'd save aston ..:(
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