A stock market shudder for Aston Martin (AM) this week may point to potholes for the luxury performance car brand as it contemplates the approach of electric motoring.

The 111-year-old British badge (majority owned now by Mercedes-Benz) yesterday revealed a double-digit drop in revenues which translated into a 6.8% loss in share values – a downward trend that followed hard on the heels of a 5% drop in the previous trading session.

Shares over the last nine months for the maker, which has a dealership on Cheltenham's Rutherford Way, have declined by a percentage point short of two thirds.

Despite an upbeat outlook in Q1 2024 financials, sales dropped 26% during this period, with revenue down 10% to £267.7m, while losses grew from £74.2m to £276.7m.

The maker said: "Geographically, volumes in APAC [Asia Pacific] (excluding China) were broadly flat with Japan continuing to see strong demand and growth. Following the opening of the brand's first global flagship location, Q New York, Aston Martin continued its ultra-luxury retail strategy with the recent opening of a new landmark showroom within the prestigious luxury hotel, The Peninsula Tokyo. Despite a decrease in wholesale volumes across other regions during the period of portfolio transitioning, overall volumes remained well balanced across all regions in Q1."

Back in February, AM announced that 2023's pretax losses had been smaller than it expected and said that in the light of record prices for luxury and special editions of it petrol-driven cars, it was delaying the launch of its first battery-driven model due to a perceived reduction in consumer demand.

Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman, said: "The consumer demand (for BEVs), certainly at an Aston Martin price point, is not what we thought it was going to be two years ago." AM customers, he said, "want some electrification... but still have the sports car smell and feel and noise".

The brand's gut feeling appears to be that plug-in hybrid vehicles, which are a stepping stone on the way to full-battery motoring, is where luxury consumer sentiments now lie – and to underline the brand's resilient belief that petrol lights its customers' dreams, a new 824bhp V12 twin turbo engine, destined for the Vanquish supercar, was unveiled yesterday.

With a feel that Mephistopheles himself might have been consulted on the wording, AM announced: "We have an unstoppable quest for profound gratification. A desire to capture the pure human emotion of the driving experience."

The maker added: "Aston Martin has committed to continuing its 25-year bloodline of V12-engined flagships with a technical masterpiece and a true leader in its class. A showcase for exceptional in-house engineering ability it is a defiant defender of emotional engagement, promising visceral performance for those who understand the direct route to a heart-pounding drive.

"The new engine, With 835PS and an extraordinary 1000Nm of torque the new V12 engine is unmatched. The result of a complete re-design, targeting optimisation and improvement, the new engine refines every stage of the internal combustion process to achieve unprecedented performance and efficiency."

Meanwhile, key rivals are moving ahead: by next year, Porsche is on target to deliver a product range that is more than 50% reliant on electricity, being either fully electric or as a plug-in hybrid. And going a step further, Lamborghini sold its last pure petrol model in 2022, stating it'll be all hybrid by the end of this year.

One auto industry insider told Punchline-Gloucester.com: "Aston Martin's flagship Valyrie is hybrid and its processes have moved to net zero production, but its prevarication about meeting market demand seems to set the cart before the horse: build great EVs, as soon as you can, and they will come, surely?"

Ian Robertson, publisher of Motorworld Media whose titles include Diesel and Eco Car magazine said: "The road to electrification has moved far too slowly for Aston Martin and they sit behind all the other sports car brands. They need to step up pace if they don't want to be left behind."

Last autumn, AM received £9m from the government to accelerate its EV development program. An SUV was tipped as the first model to arrive in 2025. But the company has now pushed the plan back a year.