Aston Martin issues new profit warning and sells F1 naming rights for £50m

Aston Martin has issued another profit warning and agreed to sell the permanent naming rights to its Formula One team for £50m, as the British marque grapples with falling profits, mounting debt and the impact of US tariffs.

The carmaker, majority-owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, said earnings in 2025 would be worse than City’s forecast, marking its fifth profit warning since September 2024.

Analysts had expected the company to report a loss of around £184m when it published full-year results next week.

Aston Martin delivered 5,448 cars last year, nearly 10 percent less than in 2024, as sales in the US were hit by a 25 percent tax on imported cars imposed by former US president Donald Trump. The team also missed the target for high-margin special edition models.

Shares fell as much as 4 percent in early trading before cutting losses.

Reserves stand at around £250m, very stable over the past six months but down from £360m at the start of 2025. The company’s debt pile has increased by nearly 70 percent since the beginning of 2024.

To boost liquidity, Aston Martin has agreed to sell the permanent right to use its name in Formula One to its F1 team for £50m. The team is run by AMR GP Holdings, a separate entity controlled by Stroll, meaning the deal represents additional funding from its owner.

Because Stroll sits on both sides of the deal and holds 32 percent of Aston Martin, the deal requires shareholder approval. Investors representing more than half of the company, including Stroll, Geely and Mercedes-Benz, have indicated they will vote against it.

A similar copyright arrangement was struck in 2024, giving the F1 team rights until 2055.

Since taking control in 2020, Stroll has sought to reposition the brand with the launch of a new model and repeated capital increases. However, the turnaround has been marked by ongoing losses, production delays and inventory challenges.

The US tax regime has added significant cost pressure to one of Aston Martin’s most important markets. A subsequent UK-US trade deal cut tariffs by up to 10 per cent on up to 100,000 British-built cars from mid-2025, providing little relief.

In October, the company cut £300m from its investment plans and cut development spending on new models, citing lower prices and lower demand in China.

Despite the storms, Aston Martin pointed to the upcoming delivery of its £850,000 Valhalla hypercar as a positive sign. About 500 units are due for delivery in 2026, and more than half of the limited production 999 has already been sold.

Still, with the share price down nearly 50 percent in the past year, Aston Martin’s efforts to return to profitability remain under scrutiny as it navigates a sluggish global car market.