48-hours after it was revealed that Toto Wolff has invested £37 in Aston Martin, the British car manufacturer has announced the completion of a new rights issue aimed at resolving its financial problems, thereby paving the way for the company to push ahead with its various projects including the DBX SUV.

Confirming the deal, said to be worth £560m, of which half is believed to have come from his Yew Tree consortium, Lawrence Stroll confirmed his intentions for the company including its return to F1.

"I am truly excited to be taking on the role of Executive Chairman of this great British company, Aston Martin Lagonda," he said in a statement. "In the midst of the most challenging environment, globally, that any of us have ever experienced, all of my and the management team's energies will now be dedicated to building on the inherent strengths of the company, its brand, engineering, and the skills of its people to forge the foundations of a bright future.

"Our ambition for the company is significant, clear and only matched by our determination to succeed," he continued. "The rights issue and the investment that I, and my co-investors in the consortium, have made has underpinned the financial security of, and our confidence in, the business. We can now focus on the engineering and marketing programmes that will enable Aston Martin to become one of the preeminent luxury car brands in the world.

"In this first year we will reset the business. Our most pressing objective is to plan to restart our manufacturing operations, particularly to start production of the brand's first SUV, DBX, and to bring the organisation back to full operating life. We will do this in a way that ensures we will protect our people, wherever they work - their safety is our overwhelming concern. Alongside the return to production, we will be undertaking the necessary rebalancing of supply to demand for our core models. In the months ahead, as the world starts to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, we will start to reinvigorate our marketing initiatives to continue to build our order book.

"We will continue to focus significant effort and investment into the continued development of our range of mid-engined cars," he continued. "These are a crucial next stage in the expansion of our product line-up.

"Descended from the awesome Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar, the Valhalla and Vanquish are set to position Aston Martin firmly in this sector and complete our range of highly engineered and beautiful sports cars."

At a time manufacturers are looking increasingly to electric, Stroll revealed that plans for a fully electric Lagonda have been stalled until 2025.

"In the longer term we intend to commit to producing electric cars to combine performance and luxury with environmental sustainability," he said.

Referring to his F1 plans, he said: "In 2021, Aston Martin will take its place on the Formula 1 grid as a highly competitive works team for the first time in over 60 years. This will give us a significant global marketing platform to strengthen our brand and engage with our customers and partners across the world."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 21/04/2020 15:55

"This is as great as news as AM could wish for and I know Stroll will succeed as good or better than Peter Sprague did. Stroll knows how to turn around brands."

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2. Posted by Mike_13, 20/04/2020 23:40

"Am I the only one with déjà vu here?

Ten years ago a successful (and wealthy!) entrepreneur fulfilled his passion for fast cars and bought an F1 team (no doubt enticed by the prospect of a budget cap). Tony Fernandes got then tangled up and dragged down in the ugly Lotus vs. Lotus / Caterham mess and eventually left F1 (probably a few bucks poorer then when he entered). He wasn't the first rich guy failing in F1 and not the last either.

Somehow I don't see that this will turn out better for Stroll - especially considering the current financial crisis and the exposure of the unsustainable F1 business model, which is on full global display right now.

"

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3. Posted by mickl, 20/04/2020 11:44

"If we all chipped in a quid I'm sure we can match Toto's £37 and have a higher stake than him."

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4. Posted by Anthony, 20/04/2020 10:13

"Great news"

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Aston Martin completes rights issue

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