AUDI WINS 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

Despite qualifying 1-2-3, Peugeot was unable to claim victory in Le Mans, France this weekend. Audi took the title for the fifth straight time and the eighth time since year 2000. Peugeot managed to snab the next two spots on the podium, but Audi also drove to 4th and 6th positions.

In the GTI class, Aston Martin's DB9 racer took the crown; the more experienced Corvette team driving to 2nd and 3rd. A Ferrari F430 drove to 1st place in the GT2 class.

'09 ASTON MARTIN V8 VANTAGE

Aston Martin can be criticized on very few fronts. Yes, their cars are lookalikes. But when the looks are so good, can you blame them for multiplying? In addition to that, prices are extraordinarily overbearing, pushing Astons out of our range. Can't really blame a business for operating like.... a business, can you?

The renowned British luxo-sports automaker is a constant improver of its automobiles. Its former flagship, the Vanquish, was a disappointment to some but managed to spiff itself up model year after year after year. Mid way up the product line, the DB9 has evolved into the new flagship; the DBS. That's improvement. Kind of.

Now it is the turn for the entry-level ($111,300 is entry-level?) V8 Vantage to improve. Check out the Numbers below, and click the link to see more GCBC numerical explanations.

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4.7 - capacity of the new V8 in the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, up from 4.3 litres

420 - total horsepower produced by the new V8, a 40bhp bump

347 - total lb-ft of torque produced by the enlarged engine, a 45 lb-ft boost

13 - estimated improvement, in percentage, on the EU combined cycle for fuel economy of the '09 V8 Vantage

0.5 - weight savings, in kilograms, of the modified flywheel and clutch

11 - percentage stiffening of the front springs, along with 5% stiffening at the rear while the front lower suspension arm compliance bushes stiffened 22%

10,000+ - total Aston Martin V8 Vantage coupe and convertible deliveries completed since the introduction of the coupe in 2005 and roadster in 2007

LAND OF OWNERSHIP: BRITISH BADGES

Brits still tighten the lugnuts and stitch the leather. The pride is still resident in the United Kingdom. In some ways, so much has changed. Viewed another way, the story hasn't been altered.

Lotus. Aston Martin. Bentley. Rolls-Royce. Rover. Jaguar. Land Rover. These are the most prominent automotive badges that Britain exports in 2008. In most cases, "export" is even the proper terms, as mentioned in line one of this post. The difference now is simply the Indian influence that wasn't present previously.

Interestingly, the new owner of Jaguar and Land Rover, Tata Motors, held some sway in Britain before. Rover sold its own version of the Tata Indica. Rover and Land Rover are terribly separate now, but use of the term ironic is awfully appropriate.

Rover's pieces are in Chinese hands. Of course, it was British at its beginning and the rights to its name are now in Tata's hands. Yes, it strikes as obvious that a country that was once in British hands now holds not just one, but three of the UK's most famous automotive fixtures. Even Honda (Japan) once held some measure of control over Rover, long before Germany's BMW had complete control and botched the whole shebang. 

Asia and Germany are in quite the battle to dominate the British brand marketplace, come to think of it. Lotus is a member of Proton's little empire. That'd be Proton, the Malaysian manufacturer of the Satria, which has been showcased here on GoodCarBadCar. Land Rover and Jaguar were bought for a tidy sum by a massive Indian conglomerate. Rolls-Royce and Bentley were caught in the midst of a humourous German battle. BMW owns the former (as well as Mini); Volkswagen the latter. Oh, and don't forget that Aston Martin is heavily backed by a group of Kuwaiti investors. 

Where does that leave American involvement? After Ford Motor Company's recent dismissal of Jaguar and Land Rover and last year's dropping of Aston Martin, major American shareholding is considered a thing of the past with equally large British motor companies. General Motors and Lotus? Nope. Not anymore. 

THE GROWTH SPURT OF ASTON MARTIN

In the two decades ending in the late 80's, Aston Martin had produced about 5,000 cars. Or, to put it another way, not as many cars in 20 years as Camrys sold in America in a week.

Now, fortunately for Aston, exclusivity and exotica go hand in hand with expense. Because a typical Aston Martin costs 5 or 10 times as much as the aforementioned Toyota Camry, selling fewer cars still makes for a reasonable business operation.

Aston Martin, recently sold by Ford after almost a couple decades of involvement, has a Porsche and BMW-bred boss, Dr. Ulrich Bez. Ulrich... or rather Dr. Bez, pardon - is an intelligent man. He says, "In 2000, we built 800 cars and if I had told you then that we would build 7,000 cars in 2006, you would have laughed at me." We may have, but, we would stop laughing now and admire the business model. A small lineup of the most beautiful cars; all sports-oriented; all purchased on emotional highs; all debuting to worldwide appreciation; all secondary stars to 007; all... you get the point.

Everybody likes a formerly forlorn British automaker that can complete a turnaround so impressive that money-losing Ford uses it to earn serious cash. Forty-score cars in 2000, 7 x 1000 this past year. That is an amazing rate of growth, and it is likely to hit a wall for two chief reasons: Aston Martin selling 5000 Vanquish's a week would be so very unexclusive and there are only so many consumers of $200,000 cars on this planet.


To make it nice and complicated, understand the point this way: to achieve the same growth spurt over a similar amount of time, Camry sales in the States would have risen to over 3 million. Put every person in the capital of Brazil in a Camry and you'd have it.

You can see why Ulrich...sorry, Dr. Bez, feels an connection with Toyota. Says he, "Toyota has carried out the same strategy that I introduced for Aston Martin in 2000. The foundation is quality, usability and reliability. Their strategy is very simple and they make very logical steps."
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Beware, The Good Car Guy is on a long-term test drive (aka short vacation) starting the 22nd. Updates will be attempted. Check back regularly.