A gentle change shook the oh-so-polite world of high-end European motorcars this week. Aston Martin introduced it might be taking on with startup electrical automobile (EV) firm Lucid Motors for future battery electrical automobile growth and stepping away from Mercedes-Benz’s EV know-how.
Aston Martin issued rigorously worded statements stressing the continued cooperation between the 2 producers. Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin’s govt chairman, mentioned, “I’m delighted to proceed our long-term partnership with Mercedes-Benz and admire their ongoing help of Aston Martin.”
Franz Reiner, Mercedes-Benz’s consultant on the Aston Martin board, mentioned, “As a long-term shareholder, Mercedes-Benz helps Aston Martin’s future growth as an impartial luxurious carmaker. In the present day’s revised cooperation settlement is one of the best of each worlds: It ensures that Aston Martin continues to have entry to a variety of Mercedes-Benz applied sciences whereas on the identical time giving the long-lasting British carmaker the chance to discover new alternatives which match its particular wants.”
Mercedes-Benz owns roughly 9.4% of Aston Martin’s issued share capital.
A New EV Associate in Lucid
In a parallel announcement, Aston Martin revealed a brand new “strategic provide settlement to create industry-leading ultra-luxury high-performance electrical automobiles” with Lucid Group, Inc. The deal contains the difficulty of 28,352,273 new peculiar shares and phased money funds with a complete worth of round $232 million to Lucid, making the EV maker a 3.7% shareholder in Aston Martin. The settlement is topic to shareholder approval.
“The proposed provide settlement with Lucid is a sport changer for the long run EV-led progress of Aston Martin,” mentioned Stroll. “Based mostly on our technique and necessities, we chosen Lucid, getting access to the {industry}’s highest efficiency and most modern applied sciences for our future BEV merchandise.”
Lucid Group’s CEO, Peter Rawlinson, mentioned, “This partnership will characterize a landmark collaboration between Aston Martin, a storied marque with a wealthy historical past, together with profitable at Le Mans and its present successes in F1, and the easiest of Silicon Valley innovation and know-how from Lucid.”
Lucid Motors has roots at Tesla, as CEO Rawlinson and different firm leaders are former workers on the EV chief. Based in 2007 as “Atieva,” Lucid started delivering its luxurious sedan, the Lucid Air, to shoppers in late 2021. It boasts the longest vary of any EV sedan reported by the EPA — 520 miles.
