Aston Martin set to slump to a loss as US tariff impact bites

Aston Martin Lagonda has warned it expects to tumble into the red amid US tariff woes and flagged fears over supply chain pressures from Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber attack fallout.

The luxury carmaker said it is now braced for underlying losses greater than £110 million, which was the bottom of the previous expected range, marking the second downgrade to its outlook since early July.

The alert sent shares tumbling by as much as 11% at one stage in Monday morning trading.

Aston Martin said wholesale volumes are set to drop by a mid-high single-digit percentage due to “heightened challenges in the global macroeconomic environment, including the ongoing impact of tariffs”, with a weaker performance being seen across North America and Asia.

Bosses have launched an “immediate” review of costs and spending in light of the tougher trading.

It also raised worries over the impact on the supply chain across the industry from the crisis at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) following a major cyber attack at the end of August.

JLR was forced to halt manufacturing production for a month, announcing last week it would begin to only partially resume some operations, which has put smaller suppliers under immense pressure.

The Government announced it would underwrite a £1.5 billion loan guarantee to JLR to give suppliers some certainty over payments, but many are still said to be suffering severe cash shortages.

JLR has the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, which employs around 120,000 people and is largely made up of small and medium-sized businesses.

Aston Martin said: “The global macroeconomic environment facing the industry remains challenging.

“This includes uncertainties over the economic impact from US tariffs and the implementation of the quota mechanism, changes to China’s ultra-luxury car taxes and the increased potential for supply chain pressures, particularly following the recent cyber incident at a major UK automotive manufacturer.”

The group has seen shares come under pressure this year over concerns about the impact of US president Donald Trump’s tariff war.

The firm limited shipments to the US in the second quarter after Mr Trump imposed a 25% tariff on car imports in April.

It then resumed shipments in June as the UK reached an agreement with the US for a lower 10% tariff on UK-made cars for the first 100,000 vehicles per manufacturer.

Anything above that threshold will be hit with a 27.5% duty.

But Aston Martin said on Monday the tariffs were still having an impact on performance.

It said: “For UK automotive manufacturers, the introduction of a US tariff quota mechanism adds a further degree of complexity and limits the group’s ability to accurately forecast for this financial year end and, potentially, quarterly from 2026 onwards.

“The group continues to engage with both the US and UK governments to secure greater clarity and certainty.

“Whilst positive dialogue on this matter has been achieved directly with the US government, the company continues to seek more proactive support from the UK Government to protect the interests of small volume manufacturers, like Aston Martin, who provide thousands of jobs, making an important contribution to local economies and to the wider UK automotive supply chain.”

It hopes that profitability and free cash flow will “materially” improve in 2025-26 as it cuts costs and ramps up delayed production of its Valhalla model – the group’s first plug-in hybrid mid-engine supercar.