(Alliance News) - Luxury car maker Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC on Thursday warned "tough trading conditions" are hurting sales.
For the third quarter of 2019, Aston Martin's wholesale volumes slumped 16% to 1,497 vehicles, with the nine-month figure down 3% to 3,939.
This has led to an 11% drop in third-quarter revenue to GBP250.1 million, and for the nine months there was a 7% decline to GBP657.2 million.
Gaydon, Warwickshire-based Aston Martin has posted a quarterly pretax loss of GBP13.5 million, swung from a GBP3.1 million profit a year ago, and a nine month to September 30 pretax loss of GBP92.3 million from a profit of GBP23.9 million.
"Tough trading conditions, particularly in the UK and Europe, persist and whilst retail sales have grown 13% year-to-date, wholesale volumes remain under pressure. We remain pleased with the performance of DB11 and DBS Superleggera; however, the segment of the market in which Vantage competes is declining, and notwithstanding a growing market-share, Vantage demand remains weaker than our original plans," said Chief Executive Andy Palmer.
Vantage is a road sports car.
"As a consequence, total wholesale volumes are down year-on-year as we balance growth, brand positioning and dealer inventories."
Looking ahead, Aston Martin expects to meet the market's financial expectations for 2019 despite the lower volumes. For 2019, Aston Martin sees total wholesales to be lower than previously guided, but still within market expectations.
"We are working hard to deliver the year as we head into our peak trading season," added Palmer.
Aston Martin shares were 5.4% higher on Thursday morning in London at a price of 440.00 pence each.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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Aston Martin Lagonda (AML)
