Aston Martin warns on profit due to tariff disruption, weak Chinese demand
The brand associated with fictional secret agent James Bond said it now expects adjusted operating profit to roughly break even this year, compared with its earlier forecast of positive operating earnings.
U.S. tariffs have pummelled global automakers, forcing companies like GM (GM.N), opens new tab, Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), opens new tab, Hyundai (005380.KS), opens new tab, and Porsche (P911_p.DE), opens new tab to book billions of dollars of losses, issue profit warnings, or slash their forecasts.
"The evolving and disruptive U.S. tariff situation was unhelpful to our operations in Q2," CEO Adrian Hallmark said.
He also warned that demand in the Asia-Pacific region would remain suppressed in the near term due to a weak macroeconomic environment there.
China's export-driven economy is slowing under pressure from a trade war with the United States, and its consumers are tightening their belts in the face of future uncertainty.
Sales in Asia-Pacific, which account for more than a quarter of Aston Martin's revenue, fell 9% in the first half of 2025, with volumes in China broadly flat, the company said.
In a measure aimed at managing tariff-driven expenses, Aston Martin limited shipments to the U.S. earlier this year in order to sell down its inventory and announced it would split duty-related costs with its customers.
It said on Wednesday it resumed shipments to the United States in June before the finalisation of a U.S.-UK trade deal that sets a 10% U.S. tariff rate on an annual quota of 100,000 imported British cars.
Higher tariffs may hurt demand, disrupt distribution, and raise costs for the company, which is responding by reviewing supply chain and pricing strategies to reduce possible negative impacts, it said.
Between July 16 and 25, companies in the Reuters global tariff tracker said they expected to lose a combined $7.1 billion to $8.3 billion for the full year due to the import levies.
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