Aston Martin Lagonda said today it had delayed the launch date of its first electric-powered car by a year to 2026, joining the growing list of car makers pushing back on EVs.
The UK group is in partnership with Saudi-backed US group Lucid to develop a range of luxury EVs. Lucid has a 3.7% stake in AML.
German car giant Mercedes-Benz has already said it will make petrol-driven cars well into the next decade following a watering down of emission targets by governments across Europe.
Shares in Aston Martin have seen a roller-coaster day with early gains quickly eroded only for them to rally again in the afternoon.
Annual results today showed revenues up and losses halving, but AML missed its production targets due to issues ramping up the output of its new DB12 sports model.
For the current year, Aston Martin said wholesale volumes will be heavily weighted to the second half of the year due to the timings of new launches, though it expects “significant H2'24 growth in gross profit and EBITDA [underlying profit] compared with the prior year period”.
Speaking to journalists after the results, executive chair Lawrence Stroll said its EV technology is in place but customer demand isn't.
“The only thing that isn’t in place is the consumer demand at this early stage.
: “What we are feeling is there are people that still want some electrification to drive around the city for five, or 10, or 15 miles but still have the sports car smell and feel and noise when you get onto the auto routes.”
Instead, Aston Martin will focus on hybrid cars in the near term, Stroll added.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, commented “Longer term, it’s the effectiveness of the group’s hybrid models that will drive sentiment.
"For all Aston Martin’s heritage brand strength, electric is the direction of travel and the roadmap for this part of the strategy remains a little unclear.”
Shares were up 0.5% at 177.4p.