Daimler, Mercedes in technical partnership with Aston Martin

Germany's Daimler, will take a 5-per cent non-voting stake in Aston Martin, as part of a technical partnership between its subsidiary Mercedes-AMG and the British luxury sports car manufacturer.

The partnership deal comes six months after Italian private equity firm Investindustrial pipped India's Mahindra & Mahindra in buying a 37.5-per cent stake in Aston Martin for £150 million.  (See: Mahindra loses race for Aston Martin)

Under the Mercedes-Aston Martin partnership, the Stuttgart-based carmaker will supply engines to Aston Martin, while Mercedes-Benz will provide electric / electronic (e/e)components for Aston Martin's future models.

The technical partnership will support Aston Martin's launch of a new generation of models that will incorporate cutting edge technology and newly-developed bespoke V8 powertrains.

In return, Aston Martin, whose cars are used in nearly all James Bond movies, will give a 5-per cent non-voting stake to Daimler free of cost in several steps following the progress of the technical partnership. Daimler will also get an observer status in the board of Aston Martin.

Both carmakers said that due to competitive reasons, they have agreed not to disclose further details of the planned partnership for the time being.

Daimler will join Aston Martin's existing shareholders, which include Kuwait's Investment DAR and Adeem Investment and Investindustrial.

Aston Martin, Britain's most exclusive sports car company, which is celebrating its centenary this year, said that it will continue to manufacture all of its sports cars at its Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire, England.

Ola Källenius, head of Mercedes, said, ''We are proud to work with Aston Martin and provide them with powertrain and e/e components for their forthcoming sports cars. This is proof of AMG's technological and performance expertise and a real win-win situation for both sides.''

''We have selected AMG specifically as the basis for this powertrain development process. Aston Martin sources cutting edge technology from key suppliers around the globe and the opportunity to include content from Mercedes-AMG GmbH in our next generation sports cars is, clearly, good news,'' said, Aston Martin product development director, Ian Minards.