Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC (LON:AML) have seen their shares crash as the firm issued another profit warning to shareholders.

The firm alluded to challenging trading conditions and as the firm continues to review its funding options, shares have crashed.

Aston Martin have seen a tough time of trading, in similar fashion too many global car manufacturers.

The challenging trading conditions disclosed in November continued through the peak delivery period of December, Aston Martin said, resulting in lower sales, higher selling costs and lower margins.

The firm has said that 2019 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to come in at a range between £130 million and £140 million.

This would lead to a margin between 12.5% and 13.5%, where as in 2018 adjust EBITDA totaled £247 million.

The firm said that wholesales declined 7% from a year ago, and this figure was 5,809 units.

This was due to a weaker mix of vehicles and lower-than-expected wholesale sales. Americas, UK and Asia-Pacific region performed broadly in-line with volume expectations, while Europe underperformed, the company added.

Sales of its Vantage sports vehicle did improve across the fourth quarter, which is something for shareholders to take, and the orders for the DBX sports utility vehicle has “built rapidly” to 1,800 since it opened in November 2019, it added.

Chief Executive Officer Andy Palmer said: “From a trading perspective, 2019 has been a very disappointing year. Whilst retails have grown by 12%, our best result since 2007, our underlying performance will fail to deliver the profits we planned, despite a reduction in dealer stock levels.

“We are taking a series of actions to manage the business through this difficult period. This will include a cost saving programme alongside a focus on returning dealer stock levels to those more normally associated with a luxury company; winning back our strong price positioning is a key focus.”

A tough year for Aston Martin

At the end of July, the firm posted a half year loss as they saw their shares plunge.

In its half year results for the period ending 30 June, Aston Martin made a pre-tax loss of £78.8 million, swinging to red from the £20.8 million pre-tax profit it had made during the same period the year prior.

“As described in our trading statement on 24 July, both our retail and wholesale volumes have increased year-on-year,” Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group CEO, said in a company statement.

Additionally, in November further worry was heightened when they posted a third quarter loss.

Aston Martin said that, for the three months to 30 September, loss before tax amounted to £13.5 million, compared to the £3.1 million profit generated during the same period a year prior.

“Tough trading conditions, particularly in the UK and Europe, persist and whilst retail sales have grown 13% year-to-date, wholesale volumes remain under pressure,” Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group CEO, commented on the results.“

“We remain pleased with the performance of DB11 and DBS Superleggera, however, the segment of the market in which Vantage competes is declining, and notwithstanding a growing market-share, Vantage demand remains weaker than our original plans,” Dr Andy Palmer continued.

Aston Martin follows in rival footsteps

The global automotive industry has seen a tough period of trading caused by both political and economic uncertainties.

Suzuki Motor Corp (TYO:7269) slashed its full year sales outlook due to testing overseas sales.

Suzuki, which accounts for roughly half of India’s passenger vehicles through its majority stake in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (NSE:MARUTI) sold just 305,000 vehicles in India in the quarter, down 32% and its lowest quarterly sales since the December 2014.

Globally, Suzuki posted quarterly sales of 670,000 vehicles, seeing a 20% fall from the year prior.

Additionally, Renault (EPA:RNO) joined the slump when they cut their annual guidance following testing waters.

Renault said it now expects its group revenue to decline between 3% to 4%, “due to an economic environment less favourable than expected and in a regulatory context requiring ever-increasing costs”.

Renault added that its revenue for the third quarter amounted to €11.3 billion, down by 1.6% from the €11.5 billion figure recorded in the third quarter of 2018.

Certainly shareholders of Aston Martin will be worried about this morning’s update, and there will be strong emphasis to turn fortunes around in a market still slumbered with political and economic uncertainty.