NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Ford Motor is looking at selling Aston Martin, the sports car brand made famous in James Bond movies.

The troubled No. 2 U.S. automaker said Thursday it has begun the process of exploring strategic options for the unit, with particular emphasis on a potential sale of all or a portion of the British automaker.

Ford (Charts), which has been struggling to cut losses and reverse its declining market share, said earlier this summer it was conducting a strategic review of its operations.

"Since Aston Martin's dealer network, product architecture and size are distinctly different from other Ford brands, it is the most logical and capital-smart divestiture choice," CEO Bill Ford said in a statement. Ford's need to "efficiently raise capital for its other brands" is one of the reasons for a possible sale, he added.

Ford had a net loss of of $1.4 billion through the first six months of this year, and its core automotive operations have not posted a profit since 2004. In July for the first time in its history Ford trailed Toyota Motor (Charts) in U.S. sales.

Ford's weak sales and large inventory of unsold vehicles, particularly in its key truck models, forced it to cut fourth-quarter vehicle production in North America by 21 percent, it's biggest reduction since 1982.

Other moves reported in recent weeks that Ford is weighing include buyout or retirement packages to all of its hourly workers, a sale of a significant stake in Ford Credit, closure of additional plants beyond the 14 plant closings already announced to take effect by 2012 and maybe even taking the company private.

Ford shares fell 16 percent from the end of 2005 before hitting their low on Aug. 1, but shares have rebounded about 28 percent on all the reports of more aggressive cost-cutting plans. The August rally has left it up about 7 percent year-to-date. Still the performance has trailed troubled competitor General Motors (Charts), which has made more more progress in cutting labor and other costs this year. GM shares are up just over 50 percent year-to-date.

Ford took full control of Aston Martin in 1994.

Aston Martin sales are so small that they are not even reported by Ford when it releases its other vehicle sales figures. George Pipas, Ford's U.S. sales analysis manager, said that when he once asked the Aston Martin managing director why the brand does not make a sales report, he replied, "A gentleman never counts his change."

Aston Martin spokesman Geno Effler said the brand had sales of about 4,500 vehicles last year, with about 1,300 of those in the United States. The other Premier Auto Group brands had U.S. sales of 200,473 in 2005, down 9 percent from a year earlier.

Effler said that was the brand's best year in terms of U.S. sales and about double the 2004 U.S. sales. The company has about the same level of sales in the United Kingdom, Effler said, and the rest are elsewhere in Europe and in Asia.

U.S. sales this year have been strong, topping 1,000 through June, Effler said, with a target of 1,500 to 1,600 vehicles.

Aston Martin's current product line consists of three models, all of which are two-door sports cars. They are the entry-level V8 Vantage, with prices starting at $110,000, the DB9, starting at $165,400 and the V12 Vanquish starting at $260,000.

Aston Martin is closely linked with the James Bond film series. The company's classic DB5 model appeared in three early Bond films, "Goldfinger," "Thunderball," and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." After an 18-year absence from the Bond films, the Aston Martin V8 Volante made appearance in "The Living Daylights" in 1987, and the V-12 Vanquish appeared in "Die Another Day" in 2002, along with the Jaguar XKR.

The Aston Martin DBS is due to be shown in the next Bond movie, "Casino Royale," which is due in theaters Nov. 17, even though the car is not due in showrooms until late 2007. It will also be the first Bond film to feature actor Daniel Craig in the title role.

Aston Martin: 12 cylinders, top down, full speed ahead

Aston Martin cars