LONDON -- Aston Martin said on Thursday it had sold 1,349 cars to dealers in the third quarter, up more than 100 percent, driven by demand for the supercar maker's first SUV, the DBX.
Despite surging sales, Aston Martin posted a 97.9 million pound ($134 million) pre-tax loss during the period, although the company says it expects to deliver its first steps toward improved profitability this year as it undergoes a transformation plan.
Aston Martin has had a tough time since floating in 2018, as it burned through cash, prompting it to bring in fresh investment and a new strategy from billionaire Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll.
It maintained on Thursday its guidance of full-year sales of about 6,000 cars as it scales up production of its $3 million Valkyrie hypercar.
Aston Martin plans to ship “double-digit numbers of” the Valkyries in the current quarter, CEO Tobias Moers said Thursday.
The sold out car follows on from strong demand for the $180,000 DBX.
"Through the first nine months of this year we have successfully built on the foundations we put in place for the company's success in 2020," Stroll said. "Not only do we have low dealer inventory, but it is also healthy and fresh -- a testament to our shift to ultraluxury positioning."
Aston is in the midst of a restructuring plan that included a vital injection of cash and clearing high dealer inventories.
All 150 units of the Valkyrie coupe are sold out, and the automaker is currently deciding on allocations for the 85 open-top Spider variants after twice as many customers wanted to buy the car.
The complexity in building the car means it can produce only 3 a week, Moers said.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization swung to a profit of 23.5 million pounds ($32.1 million) during the third quarter, the company said.
Aston rose as much as 3.6 percent in early trading in London.
“We see this as a solid quarter and a step toward meeting the back-end weighted full year targets,” Citigroup analysts Gabriel Adler and Uzair Alam said in a note. Meeting annual “guidance will be a key milestone in our view and should increase conviction in the company's mid-term turnaround plan.”
Stroll has pushed the British brand to forge closer ties with Daimler's Mercedes-Benz, which Aston says will help it meet the challenges of increased electrification as automakers rush to meet stricter emissions rules and planned bans on internal combustion engines.
Purely battery-powered cars will account for half of Aston Martin's sales by the end of the decade.
Aston has been impacted by the ongoing supply shortages in the automotive industry although Moers said that given its smaller volumes, production hasn't been disrupted. Dealer inventories are down to their lowest levels and are driving up prices of used cars, he said.
Reuters and Bloomberg contributed
