Kuwaiti Investors may sell off piece of Aston Martin

LONDON — Aston Martin is in the news again, from two different directions: A new image of the carmaker's upcoming Rapide sedan has surfaced on the Web, just ahead of reports from the Middle East that Kuwait's Investment Dar may be selling part of its stake in the British supercar builder.

The latest computer-generated image of the Rapide, which appears to have originated at 4WheelsNews.com, shows the car from a rear-three-quarter perspective. As evidenced in the image, the 500-horsepower Rapide will feature a fastback rear end with a panoramic glass roof and bulging rear fenders.

Aston Martin plans to unveil the production version next spring at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show, hard on the heels of the Porsche Panamera.

Meanwhile, Investment Dar over the weekend said the company and its investment partners were considering offers to sell a minority stake in Aston Martin, according to Reuters, but would remain shareholders in the automaker.

The partners also are considering an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in three to five years, according to Chairman David Richards, the longtime head of Prodrive who helped engineer the acquisition of Aston last year from Ford. In an interview with Arabian Business, Richards said he expects Investment Dar to divest its 50 percent stake in Aston by 2013.

Inside Line says: Given the current global economic downturn, our guess is that now is not the best time to try to sell even a modest stake in an exotic-car company. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent