To what extent does AM own it's ability to survive it's multiples insolvencies to James Bond?
In the US and here to the average man, an Aston Martin is James Bond's car. Instant cool, instant cachet, instant nostalgia of wanting to be James Bond. You even get people driving to the same roads in Scotland and posing with their cars, ala Daniel Craig.
Yes the previous generation was stunning looking, I had one, but I think many other companies have produced just as good if not better cars.
The hand-building of the cars, which makes them special, and the James Bond factor, I think is the reason it still exists.
It's what BMW so successfully removed from the Mini, heritage.