Daniel Craig with an Aston Martin

London, Nov. 24: Production of the Aston Martin, the luxury sports car associated with James Bond, is to be halted for an extra two weeks because of falling automobile sales, it was announced today.

This follows yesterday’s disclosure that Jaguar Land Rover, bought by Tata Motors nine months ago, is seeking UK government assistance of possibly as much as £1billion to tide it over its current liquidity problems. The money, it was explained today, was needed to safeguard 66,000 British jobs, invest in clean technology and pay pressing bills.

Although the recent release of Quantum of Solace, starring Daniel Craig as 007, has helped consolidate Aston Martin’s position as “the coolest brand in the world”, according to one survey, the welcome publicity has not been enough to protect the company from the chilly winds of slowdown blowing through its production plant in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

Manufacturing staff were due to return to work on January 5 after the extended Christmas break. But today, the company announced that production at Gaydon, where the DBS, DB9 and V8 Vantage models are made, would not start again until January 19.

Asked if there were likely to be any job losses in the future, an Aston Martin spokesperson said: “We are keeping the economic situation under constant review.”

The company is the latest car manufacturer to announce cuts in production at a time when new car sales, especially in the luxury sector, are falling fast.

Honda and Mini are also among the firms scaling back on manufacturing to cope with the big dip in demand.

It is not as though Aston Martin, now mostly owned by two Kuwaiti investment firms but with a British chairman, David Richards, is doing badly.

“In 94 years since the company started, we have only made 45,000 Aston Martins,” the spokesman told The Telegraph. “In 2007, we had a record year and sold 7,400 cars. The basic price is £80,000 — customers have to register with one of our dealers in 32 markets worldwide and each car is custom made.”

The Bond association with the marque began in 1964 with the film Goldfinger when the DB5 was fitted with “optional extras” such as ejector seats and rockets. It was also seen in Thunderball, Golden Eye, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

The Aston Martin DBS featured in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, while the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante figured in The Living Daylights and the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish in Die Another Day.

The Aston Martin DBS V12 has been driven by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace — the 10 th Bond movie to highlight the connection between Bond and the brand.