The Aston Martin DBX caused a welcome rise in sales for the supercar maker, conversely, Aston Martin also recorded a pre-tax loss of $134M in the third quarter. Dealer orders for the Aston Martin DBX totaled 1,349. Aston Martin expects to meet an annual target of 6,000 unit sales as it continues to recover from a botched 2018 stock market listing that saw shares plunge with the supercar maker teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Fresh investment and new management swept in with a rescue plan. But the climb to the mountain top of profitability is a vista not yet experienced by the continually troubled supercar company. Aston Martin is seeking to deepen ties with Mercedes Benz. Mercedes already owns a small percentage of Aston Martin as a result of a technology deal, but has a big influence on how the company is managed. Tobias Moers, the former boss of Mercedes AMG, was parachuted in to replace the hapless and former Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer.

The real problem for Aston Martin is that its dealer network has a lot of unsold cars waiting to find a buyer. This is one issue, one of many, affecting the company’s turn-around to profitability plan. The disruption caused by the worldwide chip shortage hasn’t affected Aston as much as anticipated due to the company selling in very low volumes.

By the end of the decade, Aston Martin says that half of all cars sold will be powered by batteries. That is to say Aston Martin will make the switch to pure electric supercars while keeping one hand on traditional combustion-powered supercars. Future electric car technology will be sourced from Daimler Benz.