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The luxury car maker warned earnings will fall below £184m for 2025 as it also sells F1 team naming rights for £50m

Aston Martin has cautioned that it will report lower-than-anticipated profits for the previous year, driven by declining sales as it grapples with pressure from US tariffs. The news came as the luxury car manufacturer also revealed the sale of naming rights for its Aston Martin F1 team to a related party in a bid to bolster its finances.

London-listed Aston Martin Lagonda has been pressing ahead with efforts to turn its fortunes around under Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll. However, the company shed light on the scale of the challenge ahead with its latest profit warning update.

The car manufacturer told shareholders on Friday that gross profit margins and adjusted earnings before interest and tax are expected to come in “slightly below” the lower end of analyst expectations.

This means the Warwickshire-based company is anticipating earnings below £184 million for 2025.

Senior figures said it followed the company navigating “a highly challenging trading environment” throughout the year.

The firm stressed that it made headway on its transformation despite mounting pressure from increased tariffs in the US and a decline in deliveries of higher-margin Special model vehicles.

Total wholesale volumes fell to 5,448 in 2025, down from 6,030 the previous year, the company confirmed.

The US remains the car maker’s largest market, though it was struck by a 10% tariff last year, reduced from a previously planned 27.5%.

Aston Martin has taken steps in recent months to strengthen its financial position, including scaling back investment plans last October. The company revealed on Friday a £50 million agreement to sell the naming rights of its Aston Martin F1 Team to associated party AMR GP Holdings.

Under the terms of the deal, AMR will retain use of the Aston Martin name in F1 through to 2055. Executives confirmed the agreement would strengthen Aston Martin’s liquidity position.

Aston Martin has its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, with a manufacturing base in St Athan, South Wales, and a base in Newport Pagnell.

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Supermarkets struggled in January, ONS figures show

British retail sales increased by 1.8 per cent in January as non-food retailers outperformed struggling supermarkets, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures reveal.

Automotive fuel sales, art galleries and technology retailers drove this expansion, the ONS said, which was partly offset by declining supermarket sales.

Retail sales rose marginally on a three-month basis, climbing by 0.1 per cent in the three months to January.

This comes as retailers warn they are facing record-high employment costs, with chief financial officers cautioning they may have to cut jobs as Labour’s employment reforms come into effect.

January’s sales growth is substantial compared to 0.4 per cent growth in December, as reported by City AM.

Grant Fitzner, ONS chief economist, said: “Retail sales rose slightly in the latest three months, as sales continued to pick up in the new year following a weak November.

“Motor fuel sales increased a little across the period, while sales of art works, tech retailers and furniture stores also performed well. These were partially offset by falls in supermarket sales.”

Whilst the volume of retail sales grew in January the value of this spend is down 37 per cent, from £59.9m in December to £37.9m in January.

And as supermarkets struggled, non-food retail sales performed well, driven in part by robust sales in commercial art galleries in January.

The value spent in food retailers plummeted 31 per cent from £22.9m in the busy Christmas period to £15.7m in January. Computer, telecommunications and furniture retailers have also experienced robust performance in recent months.

Online sales rose by 10.8 per cent year-on-year for the three months to January, and increased by 1.8 per cent compared to the three months to October 2025.

This was partly due to higher rainfall which deterred Brits from visiting physical retailers, according to the ONS.

Marty Bauer, a senior ecommerce specialist at Omnisend, said: “The early part of the year is now driven less by impulse purchases and more by intentional buying.

“Discount-led events, loyalty offers and personalised promotions will have played a crucial role in converting browsers into buyers, particularly online where price comparison is effortless.”

Nicholas Found, head of commercial content at Retail Economics, stated: “For now, retail remains a market where value wins, but volumes lag. Inflation is easing, yet growth of underlying units remains subdued as households spend carefully rather than freely.

“At the same time, retailers are grappling with mounting employment and operating costs. Retailers are being forced to find productivity gains while competing harder for every pound of demand.”