Aston Martin Makes A Profit For The First Time In A Decade

Let this be the start of many good things to come.

For far too long, Aston Martin suffered from financial problems that often times put its future into doubt. But things are different today, and the news will hopefully only get even better. The UK carmaker has just announced its first quarter results which, due to strong sales of its new DB11, have more than doubled revenue from $120 million (92.6 million GBP) to $244 million (188.3 million GBP). Pre-tax profits came in at $7.64 million (5.9 million GBP), compared to last year’s losses of $38.5 million (29.7 million GBP).

What also helped Aston Martin’s early 2017 success was strong sales in both the UK and China. Last year, Aston Martin sold only 3,687 units, and the plan is to boost that figure by 30 percent before year’s end. Aston Martin making a profit is a really big deal, mainly because it’s suffered annual losses for the past six years. Heck, it’s even gone bankrupt a total of seven times since its founding. In addition to the new DB11, Aston Martin launched its AMR line of high performance variants of existing models, as well as some special edition models, like the Red Bull Vantage S Racing Edition. We also just reported that Aston Martin is even considering an IPO sometime next year.

Dr. Andy Palmer, President and CEO of Aston Martin, stated that "The group has made a strong start to the year. We are delivering on our 'Second Century' transformation program and building sustainable profitability. Forthcoming models including the new Vantage and Vanquish will expand on our recent growth, underpinned by the financial resources and operational discipline of a true British success story in luxury car production."

Aston Martin Will Be Fully Hybrid In Less Than A Decade

Change is coming, but not all change is bad.

At the moment, Aston Martin doesn’t have a single hybrid offering. Nothing. Nada. But that’s all going to change by the middle of the next decade, according to a report from The Financial Times. Aston Martin CEO has officially gone on record stating that “We will be 100 percent hybrid by the middle of the 2020s.” Furthermore, 25 percent of all Aston Martins are going to be full-on EVs “by the end of the next decade.” All the more impressive is that Aston Martin is doing this entirely in-house instead of teaming up with, say, Daimler, as it’s currently doing with V8s.

“You need to keep core technology inside the company,” Palmer continued. “That’s why we make our own V12 engine. We believe that EVs are a core technology, and therefore we want to do them ourselves.” Respect. While some of the electric motors components will come from suppliers, the battery packs and motors themselves will be produced in the UK. It’s a fair assumption that the first all-electric Aston Martin we’ll see is the RapidE, which is being aimed directly at the Tesla Model S. But perhaps the biggest piece of news Palmer confirmed is that Aston Martin is currently working on a mid-engine supercar to rival the Ferrari 488 GTB and McLaren 720S.

However, it’s not due to launch until sometime after the DBX crossover, which is slated for a 2019 debut. Put two and two together and it’s obvious this mid-engine supercar will have hybrid tech, paired to an also confirmed new V6. We honestly wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it’s being engineered to handle full-on electric power as well. It’s nice knowing Aston Martin will develop all of this tech in-house, a clear sign that everything dear to the company still matters.