A mild change shook the oh-so-polite world of high-end European motorcars this week. Aston Martin announced it would be taking up with startup electric vehicle (EV) company Lucid Motors for future battery electric vehicle development and stepping away from Mercedes-Benz’s EV technology.
Aston Martin issued carefully worded statements stressing the continued cooperation between the two manufacturers. Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin’s executive chairman, said, “I am delighted to continue our long-term partnership with Mercedes-Benz and appreciate their ongoing support of Aston Martin.”
Franz Reiner, Mercedes-Benz’s representative on the Aston Martin board, said, “As a long-term shareholder, Mercedes-Benz supports Aston Martin’s future development as an independent luxury carmaker. Today’s revised cooperation agreement is the best of both worlds: It ensures that Aston Martin continues to have access to a wide range of Mercedes-Benz technologies while at the same time giving the iconic British carmaker the opportunity to explore new opportunities which fit its specific needs.”
Mercedes-Benz owns approximately 9.4% of Aston Martin’s issued share capital.
A New EV Partner in Lucid
In a parallel announcement, Aston Martin revealed a new “strategic supply agreement to create industry-leading ultra-luxury high-performance electric vehicles” with Lucid Group, Inc. The deal includes the issue of 28,352,273 new ordinary shares and phased cash payments with a total value of around $232 million to Lucid, making the EV maker a 3.7% shareholder in Aston Martin. The agreement is subject to shareholder approval.
“The proposed supply agreement with Lucid is a game changer for the future EV-led growth of Aston Martin,” said Stroll. “Based on our strategy and requirements, we selected Lucid, gaining access to the industry’s highest performance and most innovative technologies for our future BEV products.”
Lucid Group’s CEO, Peter Rawlinson, said, “This partnership will represent a landmark collaboration between Aston Martin, a storied marque with a rich history, including winning at Le Mans and its current successes in F1, and the very best of Silicon Valley innovation and technology from Lucid.”
Lucid Motors has roots at Tesla, as CEO Rawlinson and other company leaders are former employees at the EV leader. Founded in 2007 as “Atieva,” Lucid began delivering its luxury sedan, the Lucid Air, to consumers in late 2021. It boasts the longest range of any EV sedan reported by the EPA — 520 miles.
