LONDON — In one of the more vivid scenes in “Skyfall,” the latest James Bond movie, a vintage Aston Martin car goes up in flames when an estate in the Scottish countryside comes under attack by the villains.

But it is away from the big screen where Aston Martin, the maker of British luxury cars, is in real peril.

On Friday, Moody’s Investors Service, the ratings agency, put Aston Martin’s debt and probability of default rating on review for a downgrade. Moody’s cited the company’s lower cash levels ahead of an interest payment due in January.

“The review was prompted by a significant deterioration in Aston Martin’s liquidity profile,” Falk Frey, a Moody’s analyst, said in a statement. The company’s third-quarter performance was much weaker than the company, and the rating agency, had expected.

Grace Barnie, a spokeswoman for Aston Martin, declined to comment on the report.

Aston Martin, which is privately held and controlled by a Kuwaiti company, Investment Dar, could use some of the success of the Bond films that have kept the carmaker’s name in the public eye dating back to “Goldfinger” in 1964. The current James Bond movie, which had worldwide box-office sales of $800 million entering the weekend, is already one of the highest-grossing Bond films yet.

Aston Martin said Thursday that it was in advanced talks to raise money by selling new shares to its private investors. Moody’s said such a capital increase would improve the company’s position and ability to pay the £14 million, or $22 million, in interest due in January.

A lack of funds has been keeping Aston Martin from investing in new technology and developing new models. The company was sold by Ford Motor in 2007 and is one of the few independent carmakers in an increasingly competitive industry.

Moody’s said it was concerned about the company’s small size compared with rivals, a narrow product line and the risks involved in producing all the company’s models at a single plant in Britain.

But the rating agency also mentioned that Aston Martin benefited from a lean organization and a strong brand name.

That it is: A 1964 Aston Martin DB5, the model that starred in three Bond movies — “Skyfall,” “Thunderball” and “Goldfinger” — was sold at auction for $4.6 million in 2010.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/business/global/moodys-puts-aston-martin-on-watch-for-downgrade.html?partner=rss&emc=rss