Aston Martin boss focuses on SUV, factory reopening

Aston Martin shares soared on Monday as the luxury carmaker completed a cash raising and new boss Lawrence Stroll issued a bullish message on getting its new sports utility into production.

Stroll, who formally took up his role having bought a 25% stake as head of a consortium aiming to resurrect the iconic British marque, said the next 12 months would be about a “reset” of the business amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"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,” the Canadian billionaire said in a statement.

Aston Martin suspended production at two factories late last month March as the UK government imposed strict lockdown measures to stymie the spread of the virus. The shuttering was last week extended to April 27.

Stroll said Aston Martin would be building its order book and invest in developing mid-engined cars, while looking at electric car production in the longer term.

“Descended from the awesome Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar, the Valhalla and Vanquish are set to position Aston Martin firmly in this (mid-engine) sector and complete our range of highly engineered and beautiful sports cars,” he added.