Ford Motor put Aston Martin up for auction last week as the troubled US carmaker began dismantling its stable of British luxury brands in the face of deep losses in its home market.
Ford has appointed an investment bank to handle the sale of the famous brand, for which it is understood to have pencilled in a price of more than $2 billion (€1.6 billion) - far higher than the value put on it by financial analysts. It is already in early talks with "interested parties", Ford said, although it could retain a minority stake.
The sale comes as Ford is considering which other brands it should sell to fund restructuring and reduce losses at Premier Automotive Group, its luxury car unit, which lost $162m (€126m) in the second quarter.
The luxury division was supposed to break even this year but Ford warned in July that it would again make a loss.
Bill Ford, group chairman and chief executive, said Aston - based in the English midlands - was the "logical" choice for a sale because it had its own dealer network and factories. But he said no decision had been made on whether to sell Aston sister brands Jaguar, Land Rover or Volvo.
Ford has been carrying out a strategic review after losing $1.3bn (€1bn) in the first half of this year, and is also drawing up a new recovery plan to replace the one started in January. Last month it hired Kenneth Leet, a former Goldman Sachs banker, to help consider strategic options.
Aston Martin, famous for sports cars driven by James Bond, never made a profit until 2005, Ulrich Bez, chief executive, said this year. Ford took a controlling stake in 1987 and sales have increased from 46 units in 1992 to 4,500 last year.
Ford has been in talks for more than a month with Jac Nasser, its former chief executive and now a partner at One Equity, the private equity arm of JPMorgan. Mr Nasser has discussed several options for buying premium brands from Ford but talks are said to be at an early stage.
Philippe Houchois, motor analyst at JPMorgan, estimated Aston's value at about €400m and said the future of the lossmaking Jaguar name was more important.