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Industry / TDCN ORIGINAL

Aston Martin posts £77.1M quarterly loss as net debt climbs to £1.57B

Revenue and average selling prices rose sharply on Valhalla deliveries, but the British marque is still burning cash and has not announced a timeline for sustained profit.

Image: Motor1

Aston Martin recorded a £77.1 million ($101 million) pretax loss in the third quarter of 2026, taking its losses for the first nine months of the year to £231.3 million ($303 million), the company's latest earnings show.

The result is an improvement on the £111.9 million pretax loss booked in the same quarter of 2025, but it leaves the British manufacturer still short of the point where it funds itself from its own operations.

Revenue and pricing climb on a richer product mix

Third-quarter revenue rose 36 percent year on year to £388.7 million ($509 million), and the nine-month total reached £1.017 billion ($1.33 billion), up 38 percent.

The gain reflects what Aston Martin shipped rather than simply how many cars it sold. Deliveries across the first nine months came to 3,762 vehicles, 12 percent more than a year earlier, and around 350 of those were Valhalla coupes from the company's Specials division.

That mix lifted the average selling price by 25 percent year to date to £243,000, and by 39 percent in the third quarter alone to £247,000. Gross profit for the nine months rose 71 percent to £358 million ($469 million), with the gross margin improving from 28.3 percent to 35.2 percent.

The Valhalla's production run is nearly exhausted, with almost all remaining cars already ordered and deliveries continuing through the first half of 2027. Aston Martin has also added the Valhalla Spider, a convertible that CFO Doug Lafferty says will cost roughly 20 percent more than the coupe.

Debt and financing costs still weigh on the balance sheet

Cash generation remains the weak point. Net debt stood at £1.57 billion ($2.06 billion) at the end of September, up from £1.38 billion ($1.81 billion) at the close of 2025, while gross debt reached almost £1.9 billion ($2.49 billion) against available liquidity of £321.6 million ($421 million).

Adjusted net financing costs climbed to £149 million ($195 million) over the nine months, more than double the £65 million ($85 million) recorded a year earlier.

Since Lawrence Stroll led the rescue of Aston Martin around six years ago, the company has accumulated roughly £2.3 billion in after-tax losses, despite repeated investment rounds and new model launches.

That history explains why a strong quarter does not settle the question of profitability. Selling more expensive cars at better margins helps, but the interest bill and the debt load mean the gains have to be large and repeated before they translate into a self-funding business. Aston Martin has not said when it expects to reach sustained profit, and its latest results give no date for that milestone.

The electric plan has been pushed back

Aston Martin's revised electrification timeline puts its first production EV no earlier than 2033, and possibly as late as 2035, according to CEO Adrian Hallmark. The company intends to keep its V8 and V12 engines in production through 2035, using hybridisation where needed to satisfy emissions rules.

Delaying EVs looks like a defensible call for a brand built on sound and mechanical character. Demand for high-end V12s, limited-run supercars and elaborate special editions suggests wealthy buyers are not yet ready to trade combustion for batteries, and a rushed electric model could have been an expensive distraction while the core business is still being repaired.

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Australia / TDCN ORIGINAL

Kia K4 Hybrid debuts in Paris but Australian launch still unconfirmed

Kia Australia says it wants the hybrid small car but has no approval or timing, as production for Europe begins this month.

Kia has unveiled the K4 Hybrid at the Paris motor show, but Kia Australia still cannot say whether or when the electrified small car will reach local showrooms. Production of the K4 Hybrid began this month for the European market, and Kia Europe has confirmed the full hybrid will be offered in Hatch and Sportswagon body styles.

Kia Australia's senior manager for product planning, Raymond Pok, told CarExpert the brand has "always put our hand up" for the K4 Hybrid but has nothing confirmed on approval or timing. He said the car makes a lot of sense from a New Vehicle Efficiency Standard perspective.

What powers the K4 Hybrid

The European K4 Hybrid uses a 1.6-litre petrol-electric full hybrid system producing a combined 113kW, sent to the front wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. On its own, the 1.6-litre GDI petrol engine makes 75kW and 140Nm.

Kia has not yet confirmed the electric motor's outputs for the K4 Hybrid. The same naturally aspirated hybrid powertrain appears in the new Seltos small SUV, where the transmission-mounted electric motor produces 45kW and 203Nm, which gives a strong indication of what the K4 Hybrid's e-motor will deliver without being an official figure.

Kia has previously flagged the K4 Hybrid for the US, where the Sportswagon is not sold but the K4 Sedan is, as it is in Australia. Should the hybrid come Down Under, the Hatch and Sedan body styles would be the expected candidates.

The K4 Hybrid's distinctive rear light signature on display in Paris.
The K4 Hybrid's distinctive rear light signature on display in Paris., Image: CarExpert

Why Australia is a live question

The K4 has been a strong performer locally without any electrified option. Kia Australia registered 5549 K4s in the year to August, a 16.5 per cent share of the sub-$45,000 VFACTS small passenger car segment, making it the country's second-best selling small car. The top seller is the hybrid-only Toyota Corolla, with 9383 registrations and a 27.9 per cent share.

That gap is the clearest argument for bringing the K4 Hybrid here. The Corolla's dominance in the same segment shows Australian buyers are already paying for hybrid small cars, and Kia currently has no answer to it. The NVES angle Pok raised points the same way: a hybrid K4 would help Kia lower the average emissions of its local fleet.

Hyundai already sells the related i30 Sedan with a hybrid powertrain from $33,250 before on-road costs, while the petrol-only K4 range starts at $32,090 plus on-roads. CarExpert expects a $2500 to $4000 premium for a K4 Hybrid based on Kia's current pricing structure across combustion, hybrid and electric models, which would put a base version near $35,000. That figure is an expectation, not a confirmed Kia price.

Inside the K4 Hybrid: the cabin layout that would face Australian buyers.
Inside the K4 Hybrid: the cabin layout that would face Australian buyers., Image: CarExpert

What is still unknown

Kia Australia has not announced a launch date, a price, or even a final decision on the K4 Hybrid. The electric motor outputs for the K4 Hybrid are also yet to be confirmed by Kia. Production for Europe is underway, presumably at the company's Pesquería plant in Mexico, which assembles the wider K4 range for global markets.

The K4 Hybrid's fastback silhouette, a shape yet to be confirmed for Australia.
The K4 Hybrid's fastback silhouette, a shape yet to be confirmed for Australia., Image: CarExpert
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