Aston Martin’s Debut SUV Helps Quadruple Carmaker’s Revenue

(Bloomberg) -- Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc. more than quadrupled revenue last quarter as the the carmaker ramped up sales of its first-ever sport utility vehicle.

The $180,000 DBX paced a revenue surge to 274.4 million pounds ($381 million) from 57.2 million pounds a year ago, beating analysts’ average estimate. Adjusted earnings also exceeded expectations.

Aston Martin racked up losses and debt after going public in 2018 and has spent the last year restructuring after a rescue by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, who took over as chairman. The 62-year-old fashion mogul injected much-needed cash, pared bloated vehicle inventory and forged closer ties with Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz after luring away the head of performance division AMG to lead the British company.

“We’ve delivered everything that we promised that we would deliver in the first half,” Chief Executive Officer Tobias Moers in an interview. “The business has stabilized and now it’s about the growth story and delivering the products that we promised as well.”

The DBX, which went into production last year, made up more than half of Aston Martin’s deliveries in the first half. The company plans to introduce more derivatives of the model, including electrified and hybrid variants.

The new SUV and limited-production special models helped drive average selling prices up to 150,000 pounds in the first half, a 24% jump from a year ago.

Aston Martin will begin shipping the new Valkyrie hypercar in the second half of the year. Earlier this month, the company unveiled a production version of its 950-horsepower Valhalla, a plug-in hybrid supercar. The mid-engine model will go into production in 2023, with prices expected to be over 600,000 pounds.

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