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Aston Martin has blamed an earnings downgrade to Donald Trump's tariffs, as it calling on the UK government for more active assistance.

This manufacturer, which builds its cars in Warwickshire and south Wales, revised its profit outlook on Monday, representing the second such downgrade this year. The firm expects deeper losses than the earlier estimated £110m deficit.

Seeking Official Support

Aston Martin voiced concerns with the UK government, telling shareholders that while it has communicated with representatives on both sides, it had positive discussions with the American government but required greater initiative from British officials.

It urged British authorities to safeguard the needs of niche automakers like Aston Martin, which provide thousands of jobs and contribute to local economies and the wider British car industry network.

Global Trade Effects

Trump has disrupted the worldwide markets with a trade war this year, heavily impacting the automotive industry through the imposition of a 25 percent duty on 3rd April, in addition to an previous 2.5% levy.

During May, American and British leaders agreed to a agreement to cap duties on 100,000 UK-built vehicles per year to 10 percent. This rate came into force on 30th June, coinciding with the final day of Aston Martin's Q2.

Trade Deal Concerns

However, Aston Martin expressed reservations about the bilateral agreement, stating that the implementation of a American duty quota system adds additional complications and limits the group's ability to precisely predict financial performance for the current fiscal year-end and potentially quarterly from 2026 onwards.

Additional Challenges

Aston Martin also cited reduced sales partly due to greater likelihood for supply chain pressures, especially after a recent digital attack at a leading British car producer.

UK automotive sector has been rattled this year by a cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover, which prompted a manufacturing halt.

Financial Reaction

Stock in the company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, dropped by over 11 percent as trading opened on Monday at the start of the week before recovering some ground to be down 7%.

Aston Martin delivered 1,430 cars in its third quarter, falling short of earlier projections of being broadly similar to the one thousand six hundred forty-one cars sold in the same period last year.

Upcoming Initiatives

Decline in sales coincides with the manufacturer gears up to release its Valhalla, a mid-engine hypercar costing approximately £743,000, which it hopes will increase profits. Deliveries of the vehicle are expected to start in the last quarter of its fiscal year, although a projection of approximately one hundred fifty deliveries in those three months was lower than earlier estimates, due to technical setbacks.

The brand, famous for its roles in James Bond films, has started a review of its upcoming expenditure and investment strategy, which it indicated would likely result in lower capital investment in engineering and development compared with previous guidance of about £2bn between its 2025 to 2029 financial years.

Aston Martin also told investors that it does not anticipate to generate positive free cash flow for the latter six months of its current year.

UK authorities was approached for comment.