Engineering a new car from scratch is hard as not only does it take a long time, but it also requires a major investment. It’s particularly tricky for low-volume automakers such as Aston Martin, which delivered only 6,400 cars in 2022. This year, the target is to sell approximately 7,000 vehicles. To make its life a bit easier, the Gaydon-based marque is relying on its partners to provide certain components to speed up development and cut costs.
To that end, Aston Martin is extending its deal with Mercedes to have access to AMG’s twin-turbo V8 but also to parts pertaining to the electrical architecture and electric drivetrains. The company carrying the fabled three-pointed star has shares in AM and has expressed its desire to boost its stake to as much as 20 percent by the end of this year. From Lucid, Aston will borrow EV tech related to powertrains and batteries.
Chinese automotive giant Geely – which recently upped its stake in Aston Martin to 17 percent – will also supply several components to the British sports car marque. Speaking with Autocar magazine, AM’s development boss Roberto Fedeli said future models will use seats and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) parts from the company that owns Volvo, Lotus, and Polestar, among other brands, plus half of Smart through its 50:50 joint venture with Mercedes.
Fedeli went on to say Aston Martin will try and source “everything we can get from a wide shelf of components” in a bid to accelerate the development of new models. By relying more on Geely, the current suppliers’ list with about 300 companies will be reduced by 30 percent, according to CEO Amedeo Felisa.
Separately, Aston Martin head honcho Lawrence Stroll told Autocar he “should be knighted for what I’ve done” by pouring about £1.5 billion (nearly $1.9B at current exchange rates) into the company to fund both the road car division and the Formula 1 team.
