Over-supply
To try to achieve this, Aston started building cars “on spec”, rather than to order, leaving it with stock it couldn’t sell in the slower market.
“Ferrari has the perfect model,” said one insider. “It builds one less car than it sells. Aston went the other way.”
Others with knowledge of what was going on inside the business said shareholders failed to question Palmer’s ambition. “He was given free rein and it was a car crash,” said one. “Andy’s an automotive caveman who wants to go racing at the weekend. He was great at first, but when the market turned it was too late.”
A series of profit warnings, sales reductions and poor results led Aston to desperately scramble for funding to keep working in the hopefully game-changing DBX. Over three years to 2019, Aston is estimated to have put £500m into the SUV, including a new factory to build it in Wales, with the work eating up cash and threatening the company’s future.
In September, Aston raised $150m (£121m) in a bond sale at an eye-watering 12pc interest rate, with an option to increase this by $100m with interest rising even further. Paying that kind of money illustrated how desperate Aston was. When Aston issued another profits warning in January, Palmer told The Telegraph the company was “committed” to the car and the investment it required. “We could not stop,” he added.
Just days later, with Aston’s shares at 400p, rumours circulated a new investor could ride to Aston’s rescue. At the end of the month this white knight was confirmed to be Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, a huge Formula 1 fan. His Yew Tree consortium led a £536m cash injection that gave new investors a 25pc stake in Aston.
It also sent Palmer’s Second Century plan skidding off course. New models and electrification plans were shelved while Aston would enter the Formula 1 arena, something that Stroll said would give the company an opportunity to market itself while benefiting from technological development.