Aston Martin plunges after falling sales in Europe | Business

Aston Martin's share price fell by more than 20% after the automaker reported a mbadive drop in sales as European dealers lost confidence in their ability to sell the luxury car manufacturer's vehicles.

The troubled company made a surprise announcement Wednesday on the stock market, revealing a 22% decline in sales to British car dealers in the second quarter and a 28% decline in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and l & # 39; Africa.

The shares fell 23% to 8 pounds after the company said the auto market had deteriorated since May due to the intensification of "macroeconomic uncertainties". The market value of Aston Martin has been reduced by more than half, to £ 1.8 billion since its IPO on the London Stock Exchange in October, with shares initially listed at £ 19.

James Bond, the favorite 106-year-old James Bond firm, said job cuts could be anticipated, saying she "would take immediate steps to improve efficiency and reduce our stock base." fixed costs".

The company has decided to lighten its forecast of annual wholesale sales this year, rising from an initial range of 7,100 to 7,300 to a range of 6,300 to 6,500 dealers. cars losing confidence in their future sales.

"We do not see people canceling orders but the weakness with respect to new orders, especially with regard to dealers and their confidence," said Andy Palmer, general manager of Aston Martin. "As a luxury brand, we simply should not be making cars that we do not expect to sell. It is a question of matching our order book. "

Palmer, who has been criticized for his £ 1.2 million salary while the company underperformed, said retail sales remained strong, up 26 percent this year, and that the company's bottom line has been strong. The focus was on the successful launch of its DBX, the brand's first sport utility vehicle in its history.

"We want dealer inventories to be narrower to ensure that DBX resellers have funding lines to buy these cars," he said. "We need to clear the ground for the launch of DBX … ensuring that we absolutely succeed with DBX. In the future, we see reasons to be cautious and not optimistic. It is always safer for us to underproduce cars than to overproduce and under-sell. "

The company hopes the DBX, which will cost between £ 140,000 and £ 160,000, will become Aston Martin's most popular model, helping to double production.

Aston Martin has opened a new plant in St Athan, South Wales, to manufacture the first pre-production DBXs. The vehicle will be launched in December and production is expected to start in the second quarter of next year.