Ford Motors is selling British luxury car maker Aston Martin.
Aston Martin is being purchased by Prodrive, a motor-sport and engineering group led fronted by former Benetton and BAR motor racing boss David Richards in a deal worth £479 million (€703.7 million).
The second-biggest US carmaker said today it would retain a €58.5 million investment in Aston Martin, and that it expected the deal to close during the second quarter of this year.
Ford said in August it was considering the sale of Aston Martin to free up funds to invest in its other brands amid a sharp downturn in sales.
The US group posted the biggest loss in its 103-year history in 2006, falling €9.6 billion into the red, as high fuel prices and interest rates drove consumers away from the trucks and sport utility vehicles that had accounted for most of its sales and profits.
Ford is in the early stages of a four-year turnaround plan that includes closing 16 plants and cutting up to 45,000 jobs.