Rumormill: Daimler looking to buy big stake in Aston Martin

[Bill Wood]

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Supercars, Aston Martin, Mercedes Benz, AMG

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Aston Martin N400 V8 Vantage.

What began as a rumor that Mercedes-Benz would begin supplying Aston Martin with engines has evolved into a full-blown partnership that may include both automakers co-developing platforms and technology. The newest report comes courtesy of Autocar, suggesting that M-B is considering purchasing a stake in Aston Martin and the Kuwaiti Investment Authority would in turn receive a seven-percent slice of the Daimler AG pie.

The partnership would make sense on several levels. Aston Martin, which is a small fish in a very large pool, will need to purchase major components from mainstream suppliers once its ties with Ford are officially severed. Imagine AMG-levels of power nestled inside Aston's sensuous sheet metal. Yum. But the partnership wouldn't be one sided. Recent reports coming out of Germany say that M-B is looking to employ a lightweight aluminum platform for the next generation SL. Aston Martin has the technology to help develop such an architecture, and with Mercedes stepping away from McLaren next year after production of the SLR ends, M-B needs a new supercar manufacturer to join the party.

Thanks for the tip, Mike!

Gallery: Aston Martin N400 V8 Vantage


Gallery: Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS Concept


[Source: Autocar]
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2008-04-04T19:32:00+00:00