Aston Martin chairman reportedly gauged interest of Ford exec in top post

Aston Martin approched a top Ford executive to find out if he would be interested in taking over the top spot at the sports car-maker.

Citing people familiar with the matter, after the close of markets on 7 January, Bloomberg reported that Aston Martin's chairman, Lawrence Stroll, had reached out twice in December to Steven Armstrong, a senior executive at the American company.

Armstrong was also a former chairman of the US manufacturer's European unit.

No offers were reportedly made nor had Armstrong taken a decision to leave Ford.

Also on 7 January, Stroll had rebutted a report that current Aston Martin chief, Tobias Moers', future at Aston might be at risk.

Earlier that same day, the company had warned that its fourth quarter earnings were set to come in approximately £15m below expectations due to fewer than expected deliveries of its £2.4m Valkyrie hypercar.

As of 1228 GMT, shares of Aston Martin were trading down by 3.8% to 1,405.50p.