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The revival of the IPO market, when it comes, will give James Bond fans a chance to own a slice of British luxury car maker Aston Martin and could generate enough funds for the group to revive its famous Lagonda brand.

“It’s clear that at some point investors holding equity in an independent company need to devise an exit, and this exit is an IPO that we will do when the time is right,” Chief Executive Ulrich Bez told Reuters on Tuesday.

“Aston Martin is working on achieving a valuation comparable to a luxury goods maker.” Ford Motor Co (F.N) sold Aston Martin for 479 million pounds ($756 million) in March 2007, to a consortium led by David Richards — former Formula 1 Benetton and BAR racing boss — as well as two Kuwaiti funds.

In an interview at the Frankfurt auto show, Bez said he would hope the Lagonda brand would duplicate the success of the sports car maker’s other models, which sold just 600 in 2000 when he took over — almost all in the UK.

“Just as we have revived Aston Martin over the past 10 years, we could do the same with Lagonda. But we would need investors to finance it since we cannot, using just our own cashflow,” he said. “They do not necessarily need to own shares in Aston Martin directly, they could provide funding as limited partners, so a finance investor would be preferable.”

Provided there is a win-win situation for Aston and German carmaker Daimler, the Lagonda could be built using the same architecture as the Mercedes-Benz GL full-size SUV.

When asked about Aston’s international expansion plans, Bez said the company was focused on breaking into the Chinese luxury sports car market, where he expects sales could match those of its domestic UK market almost overnight.

“Two months ago we received the import license we need to officially export cars to China,” he said. “By the end of next year we plan to have 12-15 dealers selling about 1,000 cars, which will constitute about 20 percent of the roughly 5,000 we expect to sell worldwide that year.”

Bez wants a diversified geographical footprint, with a fifth of the sales in China, a fifth in the UK, a fifth in the rest of Europe and a fifth in North America.

Come next year, Aston’s Rapide will also become a genuine “Made in the UK” car, when production of the sleek four-door is moved to Gaydon, central England, from Magna’s MGa.TO Steyr facility in Graz, Austria. “We’ve massively increased the efficiency of Gaydon, especially in the paint shop,” he explained.

Also known for is DBS Volante cabrio and the extravagantly expensive One-77, Aston Martin premiered the V12 Zagato — retailing at 330,000 pounds before tax — at the Frankfurt show.

British luxury car manufacturer has announced that they are experiencing a never before seen surge in demand for their masterpieces in 2011. In Jan-June 2011 period, Bentley sold 2978 cars, which is also their best start to a year since 2008.

Thanks to the new Continental GT, Bentley is experiencing this surge in demand. In China alone, Bentley sold 680 luxury cars this year while in America, their largest market, Bentley sold 907 luxury cars. At home, in the United Kingdom, Bentley registered an increase in sales of 6% as they sold 533 units this year.

Wolfgang Dürheimer, Bentley’s Chief Executive said, “Interest in our product range is increasing and with our largest markets achieving significant growth we are on track to meet our targets for the full year. It’s an exciting time for Bentley as we continue to invest in new product development, the results of which will be seen for months to come. With more new model launches later this year we foresee this growth continuing into 2012 and beyond.”

Alasdair Stewart, Bentley’s Member of the Board for Sales and Marketing said, “Following last year’s 11% increase in sales, our half-year figures show that Bentley sales are rebounding. Confidence is returning to many markets and we expect this growth to continue as customers around the world take delivery of the new Continental GT.”

Longbridge’s first all-new MG for 16 years has drummed up over £3 million of business in just two weeks – with 180 cars sold. The MG6 has got off to a flying start since the official VIP launch in April, with buyers facing a waiting list of up to six weeks as dealers cope with a flood of orders for new MG model.

Sales of the new MG6 follow the relaunch of volume car-making at the Birmingham car factory six years on from the collapse of MG Rover in April 2005, when 6,500 jobs were lost.

MG Motor UK PR and Events Manager Doug Wallace said the Chinese-backed company was delighted with the response to the MG6, which sells for between £15,495 and £18,995.

“The value of MG6 GT fastbacks sold or ordered is just over £3 million – we have 180 orders in the pipeline. We are very pleased indeed with the response to the car, considering that it has only been on sale for a couple of weeks. These are people who have been to dealerships and had the opportunity to drive the car. We have got 32 dealers at the moment and we are actively recruiting more; there will be another 10 appointed in the next few weeks.

“The majority of people will order their model to certain specifications, and the average waiting period is five to six weeks.

“It’s taken off in a big way – people have seen the television adverts and we have got about 5,500 people on Facebook, which is growing all the time.”

The MG6, which is 80 per cent built in China and shipped to Birmingham for final assembly, will take annual car production at Longbridge into the thousands rather than the previous total of hundreds.

The car will also be on show at the Goodwood Festival of Speed from June 30 to July 3, one of the largest motoring events of its type in the world. This is expected to increase even more the orders for new MG model.

Meanwhile, the MG6’s saloon counterpart is set to go on sale in the UK next month, while a new hatchback model, the MG3, is also planned as part of the long-awaited rebirth of the motoring marque.

Read more at the Birmingham Mail

British car output rose an annual 44 per cent in April with a total of 98,290 new cars produced in Britain last month on higher demand for new vehicles, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

In the year to date, car production was 64.9 percent higher than the same period a year ago.

“Output in April is up across the car, commercial vehicle and engine sectors compared to the same time last year, reflecting a good start to the second quarter of 2010,” said SMMT chief executive, Paul Everitt.

“The home market saw a significant increase in the month, a positive indication of a strengthening economy and an improvement in consumer confidence,” he added. – Reuters

Chinese-owned MG Motor U.K., the British sports-car marque, is to halt production of its TF sports car for six months, not resuming until March next year. Sales of the low-volume sports car, the only vehicle now built at the once-massive Longbridge factory in England, have been slow through the year.

The midengine two-seat TF sports car started life as the MGF in 1995 and was Britain’s best-selling sports car for years. It’s now sold in limited numbers in the U.K. Just 265 were sold in the first nine months of this year, although September was the revived brand’s best month yet, with 65 TFs finding buyers. The company also has orders for all 50 copies of a new 85th-anniversary limited edition.

According to newly appointed sales and marketing director Guy Jones, the small-sports-car market is down 30 percent this year and 40 percent since 2007, and the end of the summer selling season helped make the decision to halt production. About 20 of the 100-strong vehicle assembly workforce will be laid off.
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Former MG Rover workers living in Bromsgrove could be in line for cash left on the books of a car-leasing business linked to the collapsed company.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson is being urged to take control of a £22m dowry left on the books of the defunct MG Rover business, and distribute it among thousands of former car workers.

The paper reported, on August 30, that the cash had come from a car-leasing business linked to the collapsed company called MGR Capital, which was co-owned by state-controlled bank HBOS and some of the original MG Rover directors.

MGR Capital was wound up last year, with £22m in cash remaining on its books. The Telegraph said it had been expected that the money be divided between former shareholders, HBOS and two former MG Rover directors, Peter Beale and John Edwards.

However, all of the cash has in fact been handed to HBOS. Bromsgrove MP Julie Kirkbride says she is urging the secretary to distribute the cash among some of the former Rover workers, who lost their jobs when MG Rover collapsed in May 2005.

She said: “Everyone believes this money likely belongs to Rover workers as these assets should not have been taken out of the company. The money, therefore, should either be used to pay Rover workers pensions or eventually be distributed to Rover workers. I shall be writing to business secretary Peter Mandelson to ask what he will do to ensure justice is done.”

It is unclear whether the Business Secretary can intervene, as HBOS is still trading as a commercial company.