It’s not quite official: LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA has bought Aston Martin from Ford, beating out Ulrich Bez’s consortium. The Ford Motor Co. will reportedly retain 15 per cent interest, according to Dow Jones, who said Auto Bild will break the story over the weekend (referred to us by Autoblog).
   As mentioned last year, I think this is a great idea from a capital POV, and Aston might be quite at home in a brand-oriented structure rather than a sugar or shipping family or oil company. The expertise seems to be there at LVMH, and for this reason, I doubt there will be a repeat of the 1970s and 1980s when Aston Martin was passed around like a hot potato.
   However, whether Aston Martin will last as long under LVMH’s stewardship as compared to Ford’s is open to question. Will partnerships for technology be retained? Will the testing procedures be as thorough? But if it works, it will say something about using brands to lead organizations, rather than industrial processes. Posted by Jack Yan, 05:01  permalink

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