Aston Martin shrugs off Brexit fears with plan to double production by 2025

James Bond may have to change his car if he wants to stand out from the crowd as Aston Martin’s chief executive today revealed plans to double production by 2025.

The company is shrugging off concerns around Brexit and slowing Chinese demand as it looks set to make 6,400 cars this year, but it has bigger ambitions, according to Andy Palmer.

Aston Martin, famous for its luxury cars driven by the silver screen spy, will make 14,000 cars by the middle of the next decade, four times higher than in 2014, the chief executive said.

He also promised the carmaker’s £87m 2017 profit will swell, and make Aston Martin very profitable.

“The rich are getting richer, they want more personalisation,” Palmer told Reuters in Abu Dhabi.

“On the other hand, the car industry is getting more and more commoditised because of technology,” he said.

Palmer, who joined the company in 2014, dismissed the idea of a slowdown in some of its key markets, saying that so far this year Aston Martin has growth 185 per cent in the US, 133 per cent in Asia-Pacific, and 118 per cent in China.

“The retail part is not in dispute. China was slow, but not for us,” he said.

The carmaker has fallen far below its floatation price since listing in London early last month.

Its shares, which listed at 1,900p, closed at 1,382p on Friday, a 27 per cent drop.

Palmer also revealed the company has dropped its plans to make engines for Formula One as the sport’s ruling body changed its mind on proposed new rules.

The rules, which were expected to come into force in 2021, would make engine design simpler and cheaper, letting new players onto the scene.

“When it looked like the rules were going to change, we did take a look at whether we should do our own engine for F1,” Palmer said.

“But then [commercial rights holders] Liberty [Media] essentially changed their mind and continued with the current engine, so we cancelled those plans.”