[Nikhilb2008]

Better than some Korean or Chinese company buying it.

People may laugh but today, Chinese are capable of anything....

[Mpower]

Of course Louis Vuitton does not know how to make cars, but they sure know how to sell them and other high end luxury goods and they know all about the tastes of fat cats who buy them.

Aston has suffered in the past, lets see how LV nurtures the brand. The only issue is that they will not have access to Ford's vast parts bin. Aston has their own separate engineering team which is a part of the package. As long as Ulrich Bez is also a part of the package, he will take care of the engineering side of things and make sure the technology is state of the art.

Besides Aston has never known for cutting edge racing technology like Ferrari or Porsche, its more of a lifestyle product like Bentley

[vcash]

LVMH will do a lot of cross branding and milk Aston's brand equity for all it's worth. I would expect them to retain most of the management, designers, engineers. As far as product development - I wouldn't expect much change within Aston barring that stupid and garish LV logo feces smeared all over the upholstery as a $10,000 upgrade.

But here is what may happen - Jacques Nasser's Private Equity will ultimately own Aston along with the rest of PAG (His Brainchild to begin with). I know this from a very good source - When Bill Ford turned down Nasser's private offer - Jac the Knife did not want to go into a ego tussle with billionaire playboys. As he had predicted before the bidding process; LVMH or any other company in all probability will over extend themselves and in a year or two realize the lack of financial viability. That is when he will pick up Aston much cheaper from LVMH who will want to bail out and make a second offer to pick up PAG from Ford (Who will probably be in deeper crap to begin with). We will just have to wait and see how this saga plays out.

[GTO]

Does Ratan Tata know how to make soap, salt and steel?

Absolutely YES! Tata does infact know (internally and independently) how to make the most competitive steel. So fanatical was the man that Jamset Tata himself travelled the world over in his endeavour to learn the best practices in steel-making. Tata is now within the Top 5 steel producers world-wide. I think we should give them some credit for knowing the steel business inside-out.

Realise that its one thing to start an organisation from scratch and learn along the way. And entirely another to take up a company, that already has a 100 year old history, and attempt" to manage the business where you have no experience. The difference is that Aston is already a high-end brand which commands a premium price. And a premium car requires a certain depth of engineering excellence to justify the price. It requires a precise R&D approach and the motivation (not only $$$) to push the technological envelopes.

This is precisely the reason why most high-end sports car brands are part of an automotive umbrella....whether its Fiat and Ferrari, or Lamborghini and VW, Jaguar with Ford, Rolls Royce with BMW and so on. (Porsche is one of the few exceptions due to mass-market sportscars and SUVS. )

Surely Ford knows a bit more about cars than LVMH? Do you know that Aston has lost money for 99% of its existence? That in the 70's and 80's there was so much owner-shuffling that even Aston employees were not sure who is leading them?

It will be exciting to watch this space and see if LVMH actually succeed in acquiring AM. And if they do, how long they keep it. And where AM is in 5 - 10 years.

[elf]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

... Does Ratan Tata know how to make soap, salt and steel? ...

Err, Sam, actually Ratan does know how to make steel, oil & soap:
"Tata joined the Tata Group in December 1962. Ratan was sent to Jamshedpur to work at Tata Steel. He worked on the floor along with the workers; shoveling limestone and worked on blast furnaces, he was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco) in 1971. "
Source:
Ratan Tata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But this should not detract from the point that although desirable, you don't need to know how the intricacies of manufacturing to be able to sell a good product.

[Joz]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Does Ratan Tata know how to make soap, salt and steel?

Sam bhai, the answer to that is an astounding yes. He graduated in structural engineering and spent a good deal of time on the shop floor. So!!

But I agree with the rest. I think there is absolutely nothing unusual about LMVH courting Aston Martin. Aston Martin stands for two key attributes: high end technology & an epitome of luxury. LMVH will obviously harness their experience in handling luxury brands and retain the engineering strengths which comes with the buyout.

Atleast it is safer than some non-descript company buying AM and renaming the brand.. ala 'Modern Gentleman'.

[Sam Kapasi]

Wah wah, everyone chadaoed on my first example. Nobody cited my second Reliance example.

Maybe Tata was an incorrect example. My point still stands strong with the reliance point.

[Desert fox]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Wah wah, everyone chadaoed on my first example. Nobody cited my second Reliance example.

Maybe Tata was an incorrect example. My point still stands strong with the reliance point.

I agree with the Reliance point,here it goes this way- CMD calls his BM's to a mandatory 'Growth Meeting',

BMs give a buisness proposal,if found logical,catch the supplier's by their B@!1's and bring the overhead's as low as possible,

Give Mukes-bhai the final picture of the venture....If mukes-bhai say's "Sham ko chai pe ajao,wahi khatam karenge"

Finito,finito,next you see that concept being bombarded in the market in all possible way's---In short they Bulldoze the market in mega-scale.

The BM's go home happier with a few khokha's in their pocket if Mugambo..sorry Mukes-bhai kush hue. Actually it is better to request Reliance BM's to come out with a book on their buisness working's,Iam sure it will be a best seller too,

Here's my name suggestion for that-Reliance-Belive it or not.

[abdul 65 amg]

Remember the previous owner of Lamborghini before was Indonesian . here is the full story


Toy or Supercar for Asia?

By Jacques Neher International Herald Tribune

Wednesday, February 9, 1994


Is the purchase of Italy's Lamborghini a $40 million toy for the son of Indonesia's President Suharto and his friends or rather the core of a Malaysian-Indonesian joint venture to create a local automotive industry? Read more over here
.
Toy or Supercar for Asia?

[rahul_intlad]

Motor Trend: Aston Martin sold, but maybe not to LVMH

Motor Trend is disputing yesterday's published reports that Brit luxury/sports car manufacturer Aston Martin will be sold to Louis Vuitton. According to MT, which cites "well-placed" UK sources, Aston's bags are packed and ready to leave Ford, but they do not have that iconic "LV" logo on them. Apparently the buyer is a group of high-finance types we've never heard of. They're set to pony up around $1 billion for the storied automaker.

Source:
Motor Trend: Aston Martin sold, but maybe not to LVMH - Autoblog

[ajmat]

In terms of auto manufacturers:

Those who can buy it, do not have the bandwidth, brandwidth or the need
They who can't, have no moolah or too many pressing issues

My guess is that it will be sold to a strong equity group or a auto component manufacturer who will use AM as a showcase for new technology

[GTO]

My guess is that it will be sold to a strong equity group or a auto component manufacturer who will use AM as a showcase for new technology

I hope for the sake of Aston Martin that the eventual buyer is one with the right industry knowledge, money bags and marketing skills. In the recent past, we have seen a lot of brands go down the drain.

[honda_dude]

man is this news real
i mean i have heard of business diversification but this is unreal......

[iraghava]

Louis Vuitton rumours "absolute rubbish"

Bidding for Aston Martin, which cash-strapped owner Ford is selling to raise a bit of wonga, is turning into a bit of a mess.

Or at least, it is for LVMH, the French group that owns luggage brand Louis Vuitton among dozens of others. The company's huge, turns over some $14 billion, and was heavily tipped on some news sites last week as Aston's new owner.

The company has since rebutted the suggestion, saying that the rumour was "absolute rubbish", and that there was no truth in the story. LVMH said that it was involved in the bidding for AM at first but "didn't even get to first base".

According to Autocar, AM boss Ulrich Bez was also vocal about being none too keen about working under a company with zero automotive industry experience, which can't have done much for LVMH's chances.

So we'll wait for the winner of the bidding to be announced, which is due in about a month. And given that it's likely Ford will retain a stake in the company, it may not be the highest bid that wins, but the one that offers the company the best chance of survival.

Source: pistonheads.com

[ajmat]

Looks like Prodrive are a front runner now. This is good news as these guys all about real high end car dynamic stuff and can carry on the brand. Just hope they make money out of it. More here