Aston Martin Rapide Review in 2010

Aston Martin Rapide
Valencia, Spain—Now, I don’t want to exert any undue influence on the forthcoming full review of the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide by Anthony Crawford—for that, you’ll need to revisit this space in a couple of weeks time —but here’s what I am willing to admit: About halfway through my time behind the wheel of this very special saloon, I vowed to quit the automotive journalism

Set prices in Aston Martin V12

Aston Martin V12
The V12-powered version of the Aston Martin Vantage arrives in U.S. dealer showrooms late this year, toting a base sticker price of $181,345, which includes shipping charges and a $3,000 gas-guzzler tax.
Stepping up to the Carbon Black Special Edition adds $15,000 to the sticker price, for a total of $196,345.
Both models are powered by Aston's 6.0-liter V12 rated at 520 hp and

The name's Martin......Aston...Martin: James Bond will stay with Aston Martin

With the sale of Aston Martin from under the Ford umbrella. There has been some speculation as to what will happen to James Bond's trusty spy car in future movies. Well that has all been laid to rest. Aston Martin has announced today that James Bond(Daniel Craig) will continue to drive his Aston Martin DBS in the next Bond movie.

This continues a long working relationship between the film makers and Aston Martin. The first appearance was in Goldfinger with Sean Connery driving the now famous silver DB5 "With Modifications" as Q was quick to point out. That has led to a half dozen or so Astons driven by agent 007 over the last 40 years.

The working title for the movie is Bond 22, for the 22nd installment in the James Bond series.

Source: Aston Martin.

PRESS RELEASE:

Aston Martin DBS to star in new James Bond film

Gaydon, December 11th 2007: Aston Martin announced today that their new flagship model, the DBS, will once again be driven by James Bond (DANIEL CRAIG) in the next 007 film to be produced by Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for EON Productions, and directed by Marc Forster.

The Aston Martin DBS made its first public appearance in Casino Royale when it smashed its way into the Guinness World Record books for 'The Most Cannon Rolls In A Car'. The record-breaking stunt saw stuntman Adam Kirley taking the helm of Bond's famous Aston Martin. The stunt proved one of the most spectacular in movie history when he rolled the DBS an amazing seven times.

Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez, said: "Aston Martin is proud of our long association with James Bond. The DBS has its own unique character which equals that of James Bond. It is explosive power in a black tie. It is the perfect car for James Bond as it delivers the complete driving experience and bridges the gap between our road and track cars – the DB9 and DBR9. It is equally at home on a twisting mountain circuit as on the open road and we are all very excited at the prospect of seeing it on the big screen again."

BOND 22 (working title) is scheduled for international theatrical release in November 2008.

Ford announces 3rd quarter earnings. Break even a possibility in 07

Ford showed today that there is some light begining to show at the end of the tunnel. While just about every auto maker showed a loss of some sort, Ford's is showing to not be as bad as you might think. For the 3rd quarter of 07, Ford showed a net loss of only $380 million dollars. Compare that with a $5.2 billion loss this time last year, and that is a quite considerable improvement.

Revenue was also on the up scale this year. $41.1 billion vs. $37.1 billion last year. When looking at the North America car sales numbers, there was a loss of $1 billion dollars. Last year it was a $2.1 billion loss. North American revenues were up $1 billion this year also. $16.5 billion to $15.4 billion last year.

World wide vehicle sales are up by 20,000 units this year also. Ford recorded 1,487,000 sales this year.

Ford also released their forecast for the 4th quarter and the end of the year performances. They are pushing for either a small loss or to hopefully break even for 2007. Ford has already sold the Aston Martin brand, and is should have the deals wrapped up for Land Rover and Jaguar in the early part of 2008. That will free up alot of cash for Ford.

Source: Autoblog.com & Automotive News