Aston Martin outperforms pre-pandemic revenue thanks to ongoing ‘brand desirability’
Aston Martin drove “significant progress” in the past year, with wholesales increasing 82 per cent as more normal operations were resumed following pandemic restrictions in 2020 and completed rebalance of dealer inventory in the first quarter of 2021.
Revenue increased to £1.1bn largely due to substantial volume growth, driven by customer demand, and strong pricing dynamics. This crucially represents a 12 per cent growth on 2019 revenues of £981m pre-COVID and strategic shift to ultra-luxury.
Part of this shift has been starting its core electrification journey with mild-hybrid DBX Straight-Six launched in China in the fourth quarter, as well as sponsorship of Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team which reached around 2.8bn people, buffering a strong uplift to website traffic on race weekends.
Tobias Moers, Aston Martin Lagonda Chief Executive Officer commented: “The operating environment remained challenging throughout 2021. Despite this, we grew our core business to plan, with a demand-led delivery of our volume targets and enhanced core profitability. We achieved strong pricing and closed the year with dealer stock at optimum levels.”
” We also started delivery of the once-in-a-generation Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercars. This was achieved despite the technical ambition of the product, supply chain constraints and with no compromise on quality, resulting in fewer cars than originally planned shipping in 2021.”
Moers cited “brand desirability” for the brand synonymous with James Bond supported wholesale success, with the Aston Martin Valkyrie Spider, two-times oversubscribed following its launch in the summer.
“Beyond 2022 we are confident in the medium and long-term potential for the business with our exciting product plans and a defined path to electrification”, he added.
Entering his second year as Aston Martin Lagonda Executive Chairman, Lawrence Stroll, said the brand had made “significant progress”, and added: “When I invested, I knew this transformation would take four to five years to recreate Aston Martin as the world’s most desirable, ultra-luxury British performance brand. We have made very strong progress already and are well on plan to achieve our ambitious goal.”