UK Chooses Aston Martin As Coolest Brand

The British have chosen which brand is going to be declared the coolest. And during the very exclusive event CoolLive which was held around a week ago, UK had decided that the Aston Martin brand be declared the coolest brand in the country. The event was actually held at the Gymnasium which is located in King’s Cross. And the CoolLive event is a part of the initiatives of CoolBrands from the Superbrands organization. The industry believes that this Superbrands organization is actually a really important so as to recognize which brands, people, or places are the coolest in the United Kingdom.
So who chooses which brands should be recognized? Well, the answer is that it is the CoolBrands council who actually do the judging. They simply do not base the judging on which has become popular during the moment. The council actually based their judging on which brands have actually been able to successfully create the coolest reputation in a given amount of time. It was not Taylor Wires who received the recognition nor Kleen Wheels. It was Aston Martin who successfully been chosen as the brand that has become the coolest.
MTV presenter Trevor Nelson who also works as a DJ at Radio One was one of the members of the CoolBrands council. Other members include Ben de Lisi the designer and Nicki Bidder, the editor of Dazed and Confused. Their judgment also contained some additional information from YouGov. YouGov is considered to be the most accurate research agency in the United Kingdom and this organization took care of the hard work of actually asking consumers which brands they considered as “CoolBrands”.
So why was Aston Martin chosen? Well, it is very inspiring to note that this brand has actually not been afraid of initiating change. And when the brand was now led by Dr. Ulrich Bez as its CEO, the brand took in a great amount of transformation. Now, the brand boasts of three leaders in each of their segments – the Vanquish S, the V8 Vantage, and the DB9. Each vehicle that the brand markets are class leading and have been created to be quality vehicles.
Taylor Wires
Terry Brown is a 32 year old from Houston Texas, and an enthusiast for anything auto-related. He currently writes auto-related articles for several publications.
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A Whooping $925 Million For The Aston Martin Brand

The Ford Motor Co. is selling its British luxury unit Aston Martin to a group led by David Richards, the former Benetton and BAR motor racing entrepreneur. The sales transaction would involve a whooping $925 million or 479 million pounds.
The automaker said last Monday that it would retain a 40 million pound investment in the Aston Martin. The unit, headquartered at Gaydon, Warwickshire, England, is famed for its luxury performance. But the popularity is heightened by James Bond movies where the models of the units are featured.
The unit’s name is based from the combination of Clinton hill climb and one of the company’s founders named Lionel Martin. The unit became part of the Premier Automotive Group which is a division of Ford Motor Co. back in 1994. But the unit was put up for sale in August last year. On the 12th of this month, the unit was purchased by the British consortium. The deal though is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
According to the sources familiar to the deal, Richards, the founder and chairman of Prodrive motor-sport and engineering, will be backed by Kuwait's Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co, and John Sinders, a banker in finance and shipping from Dubai, Houston, and Texas. Richards will join the Aston Martin board as non-executive chairman.
Ford was earlier quoted saying that it was considering the sale of Aston Martin to free funds to invest in its other brands amid a sharp downturn in sales. It could be noted that the second largest automaker in the United States has posted its biggest loss last year. For the first time in its 103-year existence in the auto industry, the automaker let the $12.7 billion into the red. The loss is basically attributed to the soaring fuel prices and interest rates. This situation drove consumers away from the sport utility vehicle and truck segments, which usually are accounted for most profits.
Ford, in the early stage of its four-year turnaround plan, decided to close 16 plants and cut up to 45,000 jobs. "The sale of Aston Martin supports the key objectives of the company, to restructure to operate profitably at lower volumes and changed model mix and to speed the development of new products," Ford President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said in a statement. He added, "From Aston Martin's point of view, the sale will provide access to additional capital, which will allow Aston Martin to continue the growth it has experienced under Ford's stewardship."
The Aston Martin name became an instant star in the 1964 James Bond film "Goldfinger", with Sean Connery swapping his Bentley for a gadget-laden DB5. The car is equipped with powerful parts that ejector seat, rockets and a retractable armored shield and that sure is far beyond the offerings of a Volvo distributor rotor or a Land Rover engine.
Daniel Craig was behind the DBS in the latest James Bond film titles "Casino Royale.” The Transport and General Workers Union (T&G), which represents Aston Martin workers, said that the criteria for the sale should be to keep manufacturing in Britain and maximize jobs. "The bid from Prodrive appears to best meet our criterion which is why we're looking forward to meeting with them at the earliest opportunity," said Dave Osborne, the T&G national secretary for the car industry, said in a statement. “This is a good business with a skilled workforce and a new leadership with a background in the industry."
The automaker said in January that Aston Martin was on a solid financial footing and had increased sales by around a half last year to about 6,500 units.
Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an automotive firm based in Detroit, Mi. She is a native of the motor city and grew up around cars hence her expertise in the automotive field.
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Is Jaguar Next On The Auction Block?

After the sale of Aston Martin to a group led by Prodrive head David Richards, speculations have risen that Jaguar may be the next luxury brand to be sold by the struggling Dearborn based car maker. The sale of the super luxury brand generated much needed funds for the financial woe beset Ford.
Aston Martin is one of the most expensive brands in the world and in its stay in the Ford stable, the brand has seen improvement second only to the David Brown era. But since problem after problem has beset Ford, they see it fit that the brand be sold to generate funds they can use for development of other brands they deem important to their restructuring plan.
Last year, the Ford Motor Company experienced their lowest point in their storied history. The company posted a loss of $12.7 billion and they have borrowed the sum of $23.5 billion to help them get back to profitability. The sale of Aston Martin is one good step for Ford since they can now focus on other more pressing problems.
But the question in the minds of some auto experts is whether the sale of the brand is enough to bolster the sagging financial status of the company. Some experts in the field said that if Ford’s restructuring plan falters, they may be putting up the Jaguar brand for sale just like they did with the very profitable Aston Martin.
To these speculations, Ford’s leadership team answered that Jaguar is not for sale. In spite of this statement from Ford, there are still those in the industry who still think that Jaguar will be sold - maybe later than sooner. Some even went as far as quoting a sum for the sale of Jaguar.
The brand has no been profitable in recent years. This fact will play a key roe when the time comes that Ford will sell the brand. Experts pointed out that to sweeten the deal of selling Jaguar, its cousin, Land Rover, should be thrown in the mix. The quoted amount that may be generated for the sale of the two brands is between $1.3 and $1.5 billion.
But there are those in the auto industry that see the sale of Aston Martin as a blessing for Jaguar. The reason cited for this is that Jaguar can now develop vehicles which will be aimed at super luxury car enthusiasts.
For years, Ford has contained the development of Jaguar since they cannot allow Jaguar to produce cars which will directly compete with the super luxury vehicles manufactured and marketed under the Aston Martin marque. With the departure of the brand though, Jaguar can step up and claim the position recently occupied by Aston Martin until its sale to the group composed of two Kuwaiti investments firm, Aston Martin collector and banking billionaire John Sinders, and Formula One team boss David Richards.
If Ford chose to sell Jaguar in the long run together with its British cousin Land Rover, what would be left of the Premiere Automotive Group, Ford’s luxury portfolio, will be Volvo. While there are still no rumors as to whether Volvo will be ultimately sold, the fact remains that the sale of Aston Martin has served as a Nissan control arm by supporting the weight of the problems faced by Ford.
Ryan Thomas is a native of Denver, Colorado. He grew up in a family of car afficionados. He now resides in Detroit where he owns a service shop and works part time as a consultant for a local automotive magazine. Please visit Nissan control arm for more information.
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