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James Bond's favourite carmaker, Aston Martin, is looking to boost the brand's appeal in the Middle East amid the downturn. Claire Ferris-Lay talks to CEO, Ulrich Bez.

It's been a tough few months for the car industry. In Japan, car sales have hit a 38-year low, in the US, taxpayers have been forced to bail out General Motors to the tune of $13.4bn, and in Brazil, previously touted as one of the last bright spots for car manufacturers, car and truck production has declined to a seven-year low.

Ulrich Bez, the CEO of luxury carmaker, Aston Martin, is in Dubai to boost the firm's presence amid the downturn. Like so many other luxury European car manufacturers in recent months, Bez is hoping that the oil-rich Gulf countries will provide the British firm with some much needed sales as orders across the rest of the world decline.

Last year Aston Martin sold 160 cars in the GCC, but Bez optimistically predicts that this figure could triple over the next two to three years. "In two years time, we will have a much better organisation in the Middle East than we have now. We should come to a dimension of 500 [cars] if the dealerships and staff are fully developed," he says confidently.

He explains that the increase in Aston Martin sales will be as a direct result of the firm's decision to take charge of its Middle East distribution. Until recently, Aston Martin relied on the Dubai-based firm, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd, for the majority of its sales, while the main office concentrated on growth markets in Europe and America.

But the three-year partnership failed to end amicably when Aston Martin announced it would not be renewing the contract, and would instead be replacing the sales and marketing staff in the region with its own. In March, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd announced it would sue the British carmaker for $50m due to breach of contract. The Dubai-based firm told local media that it had made ‘significant investments' after signing the five-year contract with Aston Martin, which it had hoped would be renewed.

Bez defends Aston Martin's decision, saying Lagonda has "no grounds" to sue. He denies breaking the contract and insists that Aston Martin often uses external distributors in new markets. He adds that he was also disappointed with previous sales figures in the region. "After three years, when it came to the possibility to terminate, we did, because we felt that what they did for what they got out of this [deal] was not enough. You can see this not only in Dubai, but all around - it's not good enough." he says.

"We didn't break the contract. They [Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd] has no right so to say that because they did it for five years, they can do it for another five years," he adds.

Aston Martin may not have been in the Middle East for long, but it has a long standing history as one of Britain's leading luxury car manufacturers. The brand was established in 1913, under the name Bamford Martin, in South Kensington, London, by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin. The two initially joined forces to sell and prepare Singer cars for hill climbing and racing. Following the success of the cars at the hillclimb course in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, the pair renamed the company Aston Martin.

In its 96-year history, Aston Martin has been sold five times and been close to bankruptcy once. But, today's main stakeholder, the Kuwait financial services company, Investment Dar, is likely to be the best owner yet in terms of boosting the Aston Martin brand in the Middle East. Investment Dar, along with US banker John Sinders and former UK auto racing champion, David Richards, bought the manufacturer for $848m in March 2007 from Ford Motor Cars. It was the first UK buyout to be backed entirely by Islamic debt.

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