Aston Martin Sues Dealer For Keeping Millions In Valkyrie Payments

Jun. 27, 2021 8:00 AM ET by Martin Bigg Supercars / 4 Comments

Swiss dealer Nebula Project is accused of withholding customer deposits.

Back in 2016, Aston Martin signed a deal with Swiss dealer Nebula Project to help finance the Valkyrie hypercar and other mid-engined supercars like the Valhalla and Vanquish. This was back when the British automaker was facing financial hardship before it was rescued by billionaire Lawrence Stroll.

In return, Nebula Project would receive royalties from Aston Martin. Unfortunately, this relationship has now turned sour. According to Reuters, Aston Martin is suing the Swiss dealer for withholding customer deposits for the $3.5 million Valkyrie hypercar.

To prevent this from happening again, Aston Martin says it will now take customer deposits for the Valkyrie directly instead of using a third party.

Nebula denies Aston Martin's accusations (and the claims that Aston no longer needs to pay future royalties) after ending the contract. "We consider Aston Martin's alleged unilateral termination of the contractual relationship with Nebula Project AG as illegitimate and unjustified and are prepared to pursue the necessary steps to preserve our rights," Nebula said in a statement.

Because of these withheld payments, Aston Martin expects to lose £15 million ($21 million) in profits this year. Despite this setback, Aston Martin is confident that customer orders for the Valkyrie won't be affected, with deliveries on track for the second half of the year.

Those who were lucky enough to secure an order will become the owner of one of the most extreme road-legal hypercars ever made. Using Formula One technology, the Aston Martin Valkyrie is powered by an electrified 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 developing 1,160 hp at 10,500 rpm and 663 lb-ft of torque in total. Only 150 examples of the standard Valkyrie will be built along with 25 track-only AMR Pro variants. Recently leaked images also suggest Aston Martin will reveal a new harder-core track version of the Valkyrie with aggressive Le Mans-style aero.