Aston Martin rescued

Aston Martin has dodged the grim reaper once again, after a consortium headed up by a Canadian billionaire bought a significant stake in the company and replaced its chair person.

Marking the eighth time the brand has been rescued from financial ruin in its 100-plus year history, Lawrence Stroll – owner of the Racing Point Formula 1 team and fashion brand investor – orchestrated a new plan that will see Aston Martin live another day.

In total, the rescue deal will be worth a combined £500 million, as the brand seeks to reduce its crippling debt levels.

Worth almost a billion Aussie dollars ($A985m), the new deal was put together by Stroll, 60, after the brand's share price tanked by 80 per cent since the company floated in 2018.

The consortium lead by the Canadian business magnate will see it acquire a 16.7 per cent share of the company.

Part of the deal hinges on Aston Martin becoming a factory F1 team from 2021.

Predominantly a prestige sports car brand, Aston Martin has been in business for 107 years and is well-known for being British secret agent James Bond's car of choice in the 007 movies.

Four Aston Martin vehicles will make an appearance in the latest Bond film, 

However, the uncertainty of Brexit and slowing sales saw Aston Martin's share price plummet and has now resulted in the ousting of Aston Martin chairwoman, Penny Hughes, who masterminded the £5b ($A9.85b) float.

Stroll will be installed as the new Aston Martin chairman.

The Aston Martin Lagonda public listing hinged on the launch new Aston Martin DBX SUV, which is supposed to provide the brand with a significant revenue stream, not unlike when Porsche launched its original Cayenne SUV.

The Cayenne and the subsequent Macan mid-size SUV positioned beneath it helped Porsche more than double its sales and profits, subsidising its continued sports car development.

Aston Martin has 1800 pre-orders for its new DBX SUV but the establishment of a new factory to build the high-riding luxury wagon has also eroded much of the brand's cash reserves.

The rescue package will see Aston Martin undertake several cost-cutting measures, including winding back its electric vehicle (EV) plans.

The British sports car brand said it would put on hold EV investment post-2025, which includes the relaunch of the Lagonda luxury brand as an EV-only sedan and SUV line-up.

Aston will attempt to slash costs by £10m ($A20m) per annum and job cuts are expected. The British brand stated that an additional 300 jobs at its St Athan plant in South Wales (where the DBX will be manufactured) will outweigh the retrenchments.

The Aston Martin DBX luxury SUV will make its Australian debut this week and will arrive in showrooms from mid-2020 priced from $357,000, undercutting the $390,000 Lamborghini Urus SUV.

The DBX SUV is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine (405kW/700Nm) supplied by Mercedes-AMG, and ensures the high-riding Aston Martin wagon has a rapid-fire 0-100km/h acceleration time at 4.5 seconds.