Aston Martin is not for sale

Aston Martin is not on the market, company chairman and Prodrive boss David Richards has told Autocar.

“This speculation is only there because we are talking to people all the time about engines. But we are always talking to people, and it doesn’t mean we’re for sale,” Richards said during this weekend’s Nurburgring 24hr race, where his N24 Vantages finished first, second and third in their class. “The company is not for sale,” he insisted.

Ever since Richards led the partnership that bought Aston Martin from Ford last year, rumours have circulated that he and his investors would be happy to turn a quick dollar on the deal, but this denial is his most emphatic statement yet about Aston’s long-term prospects.

The company’s future engine supply is less certain. Aston Martin’s V8s are built near Cologne, Germany, in an Aston-branded engine factory inside a Ford compound.

While there are whispers that future Astons could be powered by Mercedes-Benz engines, Richards would only confirm the company’s immediate powertrain source.

“We are guaranteed engine supply by Ford until 2012 and we are talking to Mercedes, but then we are talking to Ford and we talk to everybody,” he said.

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