A worker at the AMG engine plant. Aston and AMG will work together on a new V-8.
Daimler AG and Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. have locked down the alliance they announced earlier this year, a move that will see the new partners work together on the development of new V-8 engines for future Aston products.
As part of the deal, the German maker will take a 5% non-voting stake in the British brand. The new partners also suggested that they are exploring further opportunities, including the supply of electronic components.
The alliance could be particularly crucial for Aston, the supercar maker best known for its ties to film spy James Bond struggling to keep up with increasingly difficult global fuel economy and emissions standards since it was spin off from former owner Ford Motor Co. a few years back.
“This agreement is a real win-win situation for both sides,” proclaimed Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Management Board of Mercedes-AMG GmbH, the high-performance subsidiary that will directly work with Aston. “Mercedes-AMG will provide the British icon Aston Martin with engines for their forthcoming sports cars,” he added, noting that, “At our company´s headquarters in Affalterbach we are proud to work with Aston Martin.”
The news is clearly a big deal for Aston Martin, which has been struggling since it was sold off by Ford a few years back to a consortium of primarily Kuwaiti investors. Along with Investment DAR, Adeem Investment, Italian firm Investindustrial – which recently sold its Ducati brand to Audi – holds a stake in Aston.
The British marque is in the midst of a grand centenary that has seen some major exhibitions of historic vehicles in Europe and the U.S., including one recent gathering claimed to be the largest-ever collection of Astons in one place. But while many may regale in Aston Martin’s past, it’s the future some fans worry about.
Though the marque has revealed a number of ideas about where it is going – such as the CC100 Speedster concept – and has unveiled several new products in recent months, including the 2014 Vanquish Volante convertible, there have been growing doubts about its ability to continue developing competitive products and, in particular, powertrains on its own.
(Click Here for more about Mercedes’ GLA production launch.)
In a statement of its own, Aston declared, “This strategic collaboration…will, in our next generation of luxury sports cars, offer our customers increased performance and state-of-the-art features whilst retaining the unique character and style of an Aston Martin.”
This isn’t the first time the two makers have apparently discussed their options to work together. Just two years ago, they were reportedly discussing the possibilities of pairing up on future products, possibly teaming Daimler’s now-abandoned Maybach division with a revival of Aston’s Lagonda badge.
(Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin partner up. For more, Click Here.)
The new alliance is just one of many partnerships helping reshape the auto industry. Daimler, in particular, has been ramping up its relationship with the Franco-Japanese Renault-Nissan Alliance. The partners are jointly developing a number of vehicles together and the Mercedes brand is considering the possibility of producing some of its smaller models at the new Nissan assembly complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Daimler has also expressed interest in expanding its relationship with California-based Tesla Motors, which would help the Germans develop future battery-based vehicles.