INDEX / DIRECTORY / ASTON MARTIN / POLITICAL

Aston Martin POLITICAL

POLITICAL AUDIT UPDATED 2026-09-08
Political Score 2.75 /10 C Aston Martin - BDS-1000 410
Political 2.75

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream - see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

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Domain: Political / Communications
Entity scope: Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc (“AMLGHL” or Aston Martin), the UK carmaker. The separate Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team / AMR GP entities, major shareholders, Saudi/Gulf relationships, and personal conduct of individuals are addressed only where attributable evidence exists. 1, 2
Updated: September 2026. 1, 2

Corporate Communications & Public Stance

AMLGHL’s 2025 Annual Report refers to “Gaza/Israel” only as a global-conflict supply-chain risk that may affect lead times and freight costs; it is not a political, humanitarian, or endorsement statement concerning either party. 1 No public evidence identified of an AMLGHL corporate statement on the 7 October attacks, Palestinian civilian harm, Israel’s military operations in Gaza, Palestinian rights, BDS, settlements, or a related policy or action after 19 July 2024 or the November 2024 ICC arrest warrants in the reviewed corporate materials and targeted searches. 1, 3, 4, 5

AMLGHL’s sustainability framework addresses environmental matters, supply-chain human rights, and modern slavery, without a verified Israel/Palestine-specific position. 5, 6, 7 The company’s 2025 Directors’ Report states that its policy is not to make political donations and that none were made during the reporting period; planned 2026 AGM authority reflects the broad UK statutory definition of political expenditure and does not identify an Israel-, Palestine-, settlement-, or military-related recipient. 1

AMLGHL’s 2022 Annual Report stated that it had suspended product and parts sales to Russia in line with global trade sanctions. 8 This is a disclosed comparison of corporate action and does not establish a motive or conclusion concerning Israel/Palestine. 8

No public evidence identified of AMLGHL lobbying on Israel/Palestine, anti-BDS legislation, settlement policy, or regional trade policy. Its recorded UK/EU government-affairs engagement concerns automotive regulation, including emissions standards and small-volume-manufacturer issues. 9 No public evidence identified of AMLGHL financing Israeli or Palestinian political-advocacy organisations, FIDF, JNF/KKL, Israeli military-welfare or reservist funds, settlement entities, or conflict-related logistics. 1, 3

Aston Martin is not named in the current BDS Movement corporate-priority guide reviewed. 10 This is a source-scoped finding and does not rule out informal online calls. No verified formal BDS, divestment, or sanctions campaign directed at AMLGHL, or a corporate response to one, was identified. 10

Operations in Occupied or Contested Territories

Aston Martin’s official dealer locator continues to identify an authorised “Aston Martin Tel Aviv” dealer at Maskit 25, Herzliya 4673325, Israel, providing sales, pre-owned sales, servicing, parts, tyres, collection/delivery, and service plans. 11 The dealer’s own materials state that Autoart Group officially represents Aston Martin in Israel, while Autoart (I.L.) Ltd’s privacy notice identifies it as the website operator at 25 Maskit Street, Herzliya. 12, 13

AMLGHL’s 2025 report states that all dealers except one UK dealer are third-party dealers, corroborating that the Israeli dealer/importer is authorised rather than an AMLGHL-controlled subsidiary. 1 The group’s complete list of entities held at 20% or more at 31 December 2025 contains no Israeli or Occupied Palestinian Territory subsidiary, branch, or group company. 1

No public evidence identified of an AMLGHL dealership, service centre, sale, contract, supply activity, sponsorship, donation, or event in a West Bank settlement, East Jerusalem settlement, the Golan Heights, or Gaza. 1, 11, 14, 15 The public dealer material does not disclose franchise terms, customer geography, end-users, sales volumes, settlement-screening procedures, payment flows, or every location at which a dealer may perform services; it therefore cannot establish the territory of every individual transaction. 11, 12, 13

Aston Martin was not named in the supplied full-text checks of the 2023 and 2025 OHCHR settlement-business database updates, the July 2025 UN report A/HRC/59/23, or the specified Amnesty, HRW, Al-Haq, PAX, Who Profits, and BDS reports. 10, 14, 15 These are document-scoped non-listings, not general proof that no relationship exists. 10, 14, 15 A 2018 Hansard remark that an MP had “heard” an Aston Martin dealership in Israel was the company’s fastest-growing dealership is second-hand, does not identify the dealer or territory, and is not evidence of current sales, ownership, or a UK/Israeli state partnership. 16

The authorised dealer/importer relationship is publicly represented as current after July 2024; the sources identify Autoart and the available services, but do not publish the contract date, term, consideration, customer distribution, or an Israeli-state connection. 1, 11, 12, 13

Internal Governance, Content & Retail Policies

Aston Martin publishes a Human Rights Policy Statement and a Modern Slavery Act Statement; neither contains a verified Israel/Palestine-specific policy. 5, 7 No public evidence identified of AMLGHL adopting or declining an internal employment, disciplinary, retail, supply-chain-labelling, content-moderation, shareholder-resolution, or commercial-relationship policy specifically in response to Israel/Palestine issues or BDS pressure. 1, 5, 7

No public evidence identified in the reviewed materials of employment litigation, union disputes, regulatory action, or disciplinary action at Aston Martin concerning Israel/Palestine speech or symbols. 1, 3 No public evidence identified of AMLGHL removing, suspending, or publicly retaining a commercial relationship in response to BDS pressure. 1, 10

Brand Heritage & State Partnerships

Aston Martin’s British luxury, motorsport, and James Bond associations do not establish an Israeli military, security, diplomatic, or state-institution relationship in the reviewed record. 1 No public evidence identified of a formal partnership with an Israeli government ministry, state enterprise, defence company, university, tourism/cultural campaign, or “Brand Israel” programme. 1, 11, 14

In April 2017, the UK Government stated that the Defence Secretary formally handed Aston Martin the former MOD “Super Hangar” at St Athan for redevelopment into a manufacturing facility. 17 The same announcement separately discussed General Dynamics UK’s battlefield-communications contract; it does not state that Aston Martin received that contract, supplied defence goods, or undertook Israeli military activity. 17 The retrieved material does not establish whether a formal Ministry of Defence partnership continued beyond that historical property transfer. 17

Saudi/Gulf relationships remain distinct from an Israel nexus. The F1 team identifies Saudi Aramco as its title partner, while AMLGHL’s 2025 ownership disclosure records Saudi PIF voting rights of 13.88%; neither fact establishes an Israel-related act by AMLGHL. 1, 18, 19 AMLGHL’s 2025 disclosure also records voting-rights interests for Lawrence Stroll, Ernesto Bertarelli, Li Shufu/Geely, and Mercedes-Benz AG. 1

Lobbying, Advocacy, Financing & Logistics

AMLGHL’s recorded government-affairs engagement concerns automotive regulation rather than Israel/Palestine policy. 9 The company received £9 million in UK government support for automotive-technology innovation in October 2023; the published announcement identifies no Israel/Palestine condition or purpose. 20

The 2025 annual report records investor-relations activity involving investors in Israel, but does not identify that activity as lobbying, a state partnership, or conflict-related engagement. 1 No public evidence identified of AMLGHL financing pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian advocacy, settlement activity, military-welfare organisations, or conflict-related logistics. 1, 3

No verified Israel/Palestine-related political, financing, defence, settlement, or advocacy act by AMLGHL or a reviewed in-scope principal was identified as continuing or escalating after July 2024. 1, 11, 12, 13 The current authorised Herzliya dealer relationship is a commercial dealer/importer arrangement, not verified evidence of a political act, state counterparty, or conflict-related purpose. 1, 11, 12

Corporate Structure & Primary Mission

AMLGHL is an active UK public limited company, incorporated on 27 July 2018, with registered office at Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwick; Companies House records motor-vehicle manufacture and head-office activities. 2 Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a separate active UK private manufacturing company, incorporated on 5 February 1975, whose current PSC is Aston Martin Lagonda Group Limited. 21, 22 AMLGHL describes its purpose as creating ultra-luxury performance vehicles, with sports cars manufactured in Gaydon, England, and DBX vehicles manufactured in St Athan, Wales. 1

The reported purpose, locations, and SIC activities do not identify a defence, security, intelligence, dual-use, or state mandate. 1, 2 No public evidence identified of a state-held golden share, geopolitical-purpose provision, Israeli manufacturing site, Israeli R&D centre, Israeli logistics hub, or controlled Israeli dealership. 1, 2, 11

AMLGHL and AMR GP / the Formula One team are legally separate. AMLGHL states that it does not control or significantly influence AMR GP or its affiliates; it disposed of the significant part of its AMR GP investment on 29 September 2025 and completed disposal of the remaining holding on 16 January 2026. 1 AMLGHL retains a long-term sponsorship arrangement, extended to at least 2045, and related naming-rights arrangements. 1, 23

AMR GP Limited is a separate active sports entity. 24 Companies House records a separate ownership chain in which AMR Performance Group Limited holds AMR GP Limited’s relevant PSC rights, AMR GP Holdings Limited is AMR Performance Group’s immediate PSC, and Racing Point UK Holdings Limited is the registered PSC of AMR GP Holdings Limited. 25, 26, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30 The reviewed entity filings do not map all beneficial ownership above Racing Point UK Holdings Limited. 27, 28, 29

The F1 team’s official statement identifies Lawrence Stroll as its Executive Chairman and controlling shareholder, and Companies House records him as an active AMR GP Holdings director. 31, 28 These overlapping leadership and branding ties do not merge the carmaker and team into one legal group. 1, 31, 24

Executive & Leadership Footprint

At 31 December 2025, AMLGHL’s executive directors were Lawrence Stroll (Executive Chairman), Adrian Hallmark (CEO), and Doug Lafferty (CFO). 1, 32, 33 The current board materials identify shareholder representatives Michael de Picciotto for Yew Tree, Franz Reiner for Mercedes-Benz, Ahmed Al-Subaey and Scott Robertson for PIF, Daniel Li Donghui for Geely, and Andrew McNaught for Ernesto Bertarelli-affiliated interests. 1, 32, 33 The annual report states that Yew Tree voting rights are exercised in accordance with Lawrence Stroll’s instructions. 1

The targeted search did not identify a current attributable Israel/Palestine-related public statement, political or military-welfare donation, lobbying act, advocacy affiliation, settlement support, or political conduct by Lawrence Stroll. Historical donor records and the scope of the public-record follow-up are separately disclosed below; the company and registry citations establish his role, not a universal absence of giving. 1, 32, 34, 35, 36 His role as Executive Chairman and Yew Tree voting-rights controller is verified, but it is not evidence of such conduct. 1, 32 Lawrence Stroll’s Jewish/Ashkenazi background is not evidence of political activity and is not treated as such. 1

No public evidence identified in the reviewed corporate materials or targeted searches of Israel/Palestine conflict-related statements, political or military-welfare donations, advocacy affiliations, or political acts attributable to Hallmark, Lafferty, or the named shareholder-representative directors under a controlling-principal or group-attribution theory. 1, 32, 34, 33 The named public-record follow-up and affirmative findings are set out below. Undisclosed private activity cannot be ruled out by public-source research. 37, 38, 39, 35, 36

Michael de Picciotto established the de Picciotto-Lesser Cancer Cell Observatory within the Weizmann Institute’s Moross Integrated Cancer Center; the Institute’s 2017 publication describes the gift as being in memory of his grandparents. 37, 38 The available sources describe a cancer-research facility, not a political, military, settlement-related, or Aston Martin-connected gift, and do not establish continuing contributions after 2017. The donor’s public page continues to describe the observatory, but does not identify a later payment, amount, or renewed commitment. 37, 38 Zhejiang Geely states that Li Shufu founded the Zhejiang Li Shufu Charity Foundation and lists poverty alleviation, disaster relief, medical aid, education, and COVID-19 prevention in China; the page identifies no Israel-, Palestine-, settlement-, military-, or political-advocacy recipient and is not a complete grant ledger. 40

No public evidence identified in targeted searches or reviewed AMLGHL disclosures of a Lawrence Stroll direct or family-office investment in an Israeli defence, surveillance, cyber, AI, or military-technology entity. 1, 34 For other substantial-interest holders, the subsequent Bertarelli/Forestay findings below establish a documented technology-investment chain and supersede the earlier generalised negative. 39, 41, 42, 43, 44

The annual report records £22.3 million of FY2025 normal-course marketing sponsorship expense with AMR GP and an obligation to provide fleet vehicles to two F1 drivers; these are commercial related-party transactions, not reported Israel-related activity. 1 No target-attributable Israel/Palestine political act by Lawrence Stroll, AMLGHL executives, or AMR GP was identified in the reviewed primary materials. 1, 23, 31

Reports or allegations concerning Lance Stroll’s personal travel or online activity were not corroborated by a primary source and are not retained as evidence of AMLGHL conduct, controlling-principal political activity, or an AMLGHL donation or advocacy position. 1

Principal-linked technology investments - source follow-up, 8 September 2026

AMLGHL’s FY2025 annual report attributes 14.92% voting rights to Ernesto Bertarelli and identifies board representation for his interests. B-FLEXION’s current people page names him Chairman; Forestay identifies itself as the enterprise-software fund of B-FLEXION, established by the Bertarelli family. Forestay’s current mandate includes Europe and Israel, with AI, data infrastructure and cybersecurity among its themes.39, 41, 42

Forestay’s current portfolio identifies K2View (HQ Israel; first investment 2020), vCita (HQ USA/Israel; first investment 2019) and Fornova (HQ Israel; first investment 2017). These entries are displayed without the exit label used for former holdings. They establish publicly presented ongoing portfolio relationships, not an exact current ownership percentage or new 2026 cash contribution.43, 45, 46

K2View’s 11 August 2020 announcement records a $28 million funding round led by Forestay with Genesis Partners, for growth of its enterprise DataOps platform. B-FLEXION’s 18 July 2019 release records a $15 million vCita round led by Forestay for global expansion and product development. These are total round sizes, not disclosed Forestay-only cheques or Aston Martin expenditure.47, 48

Forestay identifies Veriti as an Israeli cybersecurity investment first made in 2023 and marks it exited. Check Point’s second-quarter 2025 financial results confirm its acquisition of Veriti and report $84 million net cash consideration. This documents the financing history and subsequent acquisition; it does not show an ongoing Forestay equity holding in Veriti or Check Point.44, 49

The named portfolio pages describe enterprise data management, small-business administration, hospitality intelligence and cybersecurity. No public evidence identified in those sources of a named Israeli military customer, a Palestinian-targeted deployment, Aston Martin’s operational use of these products, or an Aston Martin corporate ownership stake in the funds. The affirmative connection is the disclosed major-shareholder/Bertarelli-family investment chain; it is not a claim that the carmaker and fund are one legal entity.39, 42, 43, 45, 46, 44

Public donor and conduct records - source follow-up, 8 September 2026

World ORT’s original 1995 annual-report donor roll names “Lawrence Stroll, Canada” on printed page 36 (PDF page 38), in the $5,000–$9,999 donation category. This is a historical named-donor entry; the entry supplies neither a precise donation amount nor an Israel-specific recipient allocation. No later contribution is established by this 1995 document. It corrects an earlier research dismissal of the archive lead without treating historical giving as current.35

The Pebble Beach Company Foundation’s 2024 donor roll also lists Lawrence Stroll. The named recipient is the Foundation; the donor-list page does not identify an Israel-related grant or purpose. The Aston Martin Heritage Trust’s 2026 lecture account records Adrian Hallmark as guest speaker at a charity fundraising event. Neither record establishes an Israel/Palestine political act.36, 50

The public-record follow-up used exact-name searches for Stroll and Strulovitch, Hallmark, Lafferty and the named shareholder representatives, with Israel/Palestine, political statements, donor, charity, foundation, military-welfare and investment terms. It also used searches restricted to FIDF, JNF, World ORT and publicly indexed charity-register/filing domains. The positive records above and the Weizmann gift are retained. Searches did not identify a reliably attributable Stroll foundation, grant schedule, FIDF/JNF donor entry or Israeli defence/cyber investment by Stroll personally. This is the result of the recorded searches, not a conclusion drawn from Aston Martin’s annual report or a claim to have inspected every donor return. The exact source and query trail is retained in the accompanying research notes. The independently verified Bertarelli/Forestay investments above replace the earlier undifferentiated negative concerning other major holders.39, 41, 42, 35, 36, 50

Footnotes

  1. https://www.astonmartin.com/-/media/corporate/corporatearchive/documents/annual-reports/aston-martin-lagonda-annual-report-2025.pdf?rev=481f11aaed454601b437f2d2730eb377 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25 ↩26 ↩27 ↩28 ↩29 ↩30 ↩31 ↩32 ↩33 ↩34 ↩35 ↩36 ↩37 ↩38

  2. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11488166 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. https://www.astonmartin.com/en/corporate/investors/annual-report ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. https://unglobalcompact.org/participation/report/cop/active/455898 ↩

  5. https://www.astonmartin.com/en/corporate/sustainability/policies/human-rights ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. https://www.astonmartin.com/en/corporate/sustainability/sustainability-reports ↩

  7. https://www.astonmartin.com/en/corporate/sustainability/anti-slavery-policy ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. https://www.astonmartin.com/-/media/corporate/documents/annual-reports/aston_martin_annual_report_2022.pdf?hash=9A3C425CE6101D99D4249E882AA19A4F&rev=6a462584d1c54890a85a324a2663c3d7 ↩ ↩2

  9. https://www.lobbyfacts.eu/datacard/aston-martin-lagonda ↩ ↩2

  10. https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  11. https://www.astonmartin.com/en/dealers/aston-martin-israel ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  12. https://www.astonmartin-israel.co.il/en/pages/about ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  13. https://www.astonmartin-israel.co.il/en/pages/privacy ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/59/23 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  15. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/un-human-rights-office-updates-database-businesses-involved-israeli ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-07-03/debates/75593B38-F8B9-4B15-875A-E3625CDEB51E/UK-IsraelTrade ↩

  17. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defence-secretary-boosts-welsh-jobs-on-visit-to-aston-martin-and-gduk ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/partner/aramco ↩

  19. https://www.arabnews.com/node/2405961/business-economy ↩

  20. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/business-secretary-visits-aston-martin-after-announcing-9-million-to-drive-innovation-in-auto-tech-industry ↩

  21. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01199255 ↩

  22. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01199255/persons-with-significant-control ↩

  23. https://www.astonmartin.com/-/media/corporate/corporatearchive/documents/bondholders/final-offering-memorandum-13-march-2024.pdf?rev=a245d702dbd2401eafaadb26f9e3f2ac ↩ ↩2

  24. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11496673/persons-with-significant-control ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  25. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14332934 ↩

  26. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14332934/persons-with-significant-control ↩

  27. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13814807 ↩ ↩2

  28. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13814807/officers ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  29. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13814807/persons-with-significant-control ↩ ↩2

  30. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14332934 ↩

  31. https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/announcement/a-statement-from-lawrence-stroll ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  32. https://www.astonmartin.com/en/corporate/about-us/governance/board ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  33. https://www.astonmartin.com/en/corporate/about-us/governance/leadership ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  34. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11488166/officers ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  35. https://ortarchive.ort.org/fileadmin/d/world_ort_headquarters/d18a724.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  36. https://online.flippingbook.com/view/177481966/16/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  37. https://michaeldepicciotto.com/philanthropy/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  38. https://institutoweizmann.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/WIM-Spring-2017-26.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  39. https://www.astonmartin.com/-/media/corporate/corporatearchive/documents/annual-reports/aston-martin-lagonda-annual-report-2025.pdf?rev=481f11aaed454601b437f2d2730eb377 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  40. https://zgh.com/li-shufu-charity-foundation/?lang=en ↩

  41. https://www.bflexion.com/people ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  42. https://www.forestay.vc/focus ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  43. https://www.forestay.vc/companies/k2view ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  44. https://www.forestay.vc/companies/veriti ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  45. https://www.forestay.vc/companies/vcita ↩ ↩2

  46. https://www.forestay.vc/companies/fornova ↩ ↩2

  47. https://www.k2view.com/news-blog/k2view-raises-28-million-to-accelerate-rapid-expansion-in-the-dataops-market ↩

  48. https://www.bflexion.com/news/vcita-secures-15m-growth-funding-round-led-forestay-capital ↩

  49. https://www.checkpoint.com/downloads/investor/check-point-software-second-quarter-2025-financial-results.pdf?v=1.0 ↩

  50. https://amht.org.uk/gallery/walter-hayes-memorial-lecture-2026/ ↩ ↩2