Aston Martin closes factories as Covid-19 threatens performance

Aston Martin Lagonda said it would stop production at its UK factories for almost four weeks as the company warned the Covid-19 crisis was a threat to its financial performance.

The luxury carmaker said its manufacturing sites would close on Wednesday and reopen on 20 April subject to circumstances.

Aston Martin said it was also controlling and shifting operating costs, such as marketing, and capital spending. It said after Covid-19 affected demand in China and the Asia Pacific region the virus was now "impacting demand in other markets increasing uncertainties and risks to the financial performance of the company in 2020".

James Bond's car brand said about a third of its dealers were closed with a third operating at limited capacity and that there could be further reductions. All but one of its 18 dealers in China are open.

Aston Martin said it was still planning to start delivering its new DBX model in summer 2020 and that its order book was growing. The company is continuing to develop its Valkyrie model with first deliveries planned for the second half of 2020.

The company was struggling with rising costs, supply chain issues and a sales slump even before the coronavirus outbreak threatened to trigger a global recession.