By Shashwat Awasthi
(Reuters) -British luxury carmaker Aston Martin issued a profit warning on Wednesday citing a hit from U.S. import tariffs and prolonged suppressed Asian demand linked to China’s economic slowdown, sending the company’s shares down as much as 7%.
It forecast adjusted operating profit to roughly break even this year, compared with its earlier expectation of positive earnings, as it also expects a hit from a stronger pound and investments in software.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs had been “extremely disruptive” in the second quarter, Aston Martin executives said during a call with journalists.
A trade deal Britain agreed with Washington last month establishes a quota-based U.S. tariff system for imported British cars.
The first-come-first-served system allows 25,000 UK-made cars per quarter to qualify for a 10% tariff with additional imports facing a 27.5% levy.
The company said the quota mechanism had complicated financial planning for 2025 and possibly into 2026.
“We continue to actively engage the UK government to urge them to improve the quota mechanism to ensure fair access for the whole UK car industry to the 10% rate on an ongoing basis,” CEO Adrian Hallmark said.
Aston Martin resumed auto shipments to the U.S. in June after earlier curbs aimed at clearing inventories and has incrementally raised prices in response to the tariffs, it said.
U.S. tariffs have pummelled global automakers, forcing companies like GM, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz to book billions of dollars of losses, issue profit warnings, slash forecasts, and raise prices.
Aston Martin also warned that demand in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for more than a quarter of its revenue, would remain suppressed in the near term.
Sales in a “very stagnant” Chinese market, where a slowing economy is leading consumers to tighten their belts, were broadly flat in the first half of the year.
“The guidance reduction is understandable in the face of current FX headwinds, investments in business and lower volumes until Q4,” Bernstein analysts said in a note.
Shares of the brand, which is associated with fictional secret agent James Bond, pared some earlier losses to trade 3.6% lower at 75.9 pence by 0951 GMT.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Joe Bavier)
