Side-Impact Crash Rule Could Close U.S. Aston Martin Stores
Aston Martin stores in the U.S. will be unprofitable and could close if the sports-car maker is unable to get an exemption from crash standards that take effect next month, a top dealer said.
The average Aston Martin store will be loss-making if the carmaker can’t sell the DB9 and Vantage, two models that don’t comply with the new side-impact crash rule, said James Walker, chairman of the automaker’s U.S. dealer advisory panel. Without convertible models, which won’t meet the standard by September 2015, all the brand’s dealers would be “in the red,” he wrote in a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration petition.
“The financial viability of Aston Martin dealers is very much in question,” wrote Walker, who confirmed the contents of the letter by telephone. “If dealers make the decision to shutter the franchise, a very likely outcome, the impact on employment is significant.”
Matthew Clarke, an Aston Martin spokesman, said he hadn’t seen the petition and couldn’t immediately comment.
Known for its sports cars featured in James Bond movies, Gaydon, England-based Aston Martin is one of the few ultra- luxury auto producers that doesn’t belong to a larger manufacturing group. The 101-year-old company’s independence has hampered its ability to fund new models, including the next- generation DB9 and Vantage, which have been delayed.
Next month, U.S. regulators will begin implementing an additional crash test meant to protect passengers from sideway- collisions into utility poles, trees and other narrow, fixed objects. Aston Martin last year requested an exemption for the DB9 through August 2016 and for the Vantage through August 2017.
- Insurers Get Green Light to Pay Less Than Billed Charges in Florida PIP Cases
- New Vehicle Registrations in California Rose, While Tesla Registrations Dropped Again
- Jury Awards $80M to 3 Former Zurich NA Employees for Wrongful Termination
- Insurer Chubb Prepares to Pay $350M in Baltimore Bridge Collapse
- Report: Vehicle Complexity, Labor ‘Reshaping’ Auto Insurance and Collision Repair
- Poll: Consumers OK with AI in P/C Insurance, but Not So Much for Claims and Underwriting
- EVs Head for Junkyard as Mechanic Shortage Inflates Repair Costs
- Millions of Recalled Hyundai and Kia Vehicles, With Dangerous Defect, Remain on Road