Aston Martin
Type Private Limited Company
Industry Automotive
Founded 1913
Founder(s) Lionel Martin
Robert Bamford
Headquarters Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom
Key people Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO
Marek Reichman, Director of Design
Products Automobiles
Owner(s) David Richards
John Sinders
Investment Dar

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From 1994 until 2007 Aston Martin was part of the Ford Motor Company, becoming part of the company's Premier Automotive Group in 2000. On 12 March 2007, it was purchased for ￡479 million by a joint venture company, headed by David Richards and co-owned by Investment Dar and Adeem Investment of Kuwait and English businessman John Sinders. Ford retained a US$77 million stake in Aston Martin, valuing the company at US$925 million.

In January 2009, it was announced that the company was entering the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours race as a factory team in the prestigious LMP1 division. After competing throughout the 2008 season with a Lola B08/60 LMP1 Coupe under the Charouz Racing banner, Aston Martin will use a slightly modified Lola LMP1 design for their programme. Three Lola-Aston Martins have been entered in the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours by Aston Martin but only two have been confirmed with sponsorship. Aston Martin will also compete in the complete Le Mans series with the Lola-Aston Martin LMP cars, starting at Barcelona in early April. The programme got off to an unfortunate start at the pre season Paul Ricard test on March 8 when Tomas Enge destroyed the 007 car in an accident. Aston Martin Racing have subsequently taken delivery of a new Lola to replace the written off chassis.

2010 Outsourced Rapide
The first four-door Aston Martin Rapide sports cars rolled out of the Magna Steyr factory in Graz, Austria. The contract manufacturer provides dedicated facilities to ensure compliance with the exacting standards of Aston Martin and other marques, including Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot.

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