During the first half of 2020, Aston Martin saw a 41 percent decrease in year-on-year sales owing to dealership closures on the back of COVID-19-related lockdown measures. Even so, the company insists that it's still on track to transform itself into a leading luxury car brand.

According to Autocar, adding to the losses was the suspension of production at the Gaydon and St Athan plant. While the latter has resumed production, Gaydon, its sportscar plant, is still closed until the end of August.

In April, Aston Martin's executive chairman, Lawrence Stroll, revealed his plan to increase profitability and cut costs by reducing the firm's sportscar production volume, instead placing greater emphasis on the DBX. In the past three months, Aston Martin’s sportscar stock has been reduced to 869 units.  This decision has resulted in the loss of 500 jobs.

"We are restoring exclusivity to our sports cars, rebalancing supply to demand, which, in the short term, means lower wholesale volumes but is necessary for future success,” Stroll said. The pace of Aston Martin’s recovery will vary, but Stroll expects these measures to continue into 2021.

Stroll admits that the past six months have been “very intense and challenging” but is still “fully engaged in executing the initial reset in order to achieve our ambition to build Aston Martin into one of the great global luxury car brands.”

Original article from Car