Aston Martin shares surge on deal to make electric cars

Luxury carmaker Aston Martin on Monday said it was entering the electric vehicle market after signing a strategic supply agreement with US-based Lucid Group.

The company will issue about 28.4 million new ordinary shares and make phased cash payments to Lucid of around $232m (£177m), while Lucid would become a 3.7% shareholder in the car maker. Shares in the iconic brand surged 10% on the news.

“The supply agreement would also complement the bespoke development of a single battery electric vehicle (BEV) platform by Aston Martin that will be utilised across its future electrified product portfolio, and support the Company's target to launch its first BEV in 2025,” Aston Martin said in a statement.

Aston Martin said it would select powertrain components from Lucid for initial and certain future battery electric vehicle (BEV) models.

“Combined with our internal development, this [deal with Lucid] will allow us to create a single bespoke BEV platform suitable for all future Aston Martin products, all the way from hypercars to sports cars and SUVs,” said Roberto Fedeli, Aston Martin’s chief technology officer.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com