Aston Martin puts Nissan exec in driving seat

Aston Martin has ended its nine-month search for a chief executive with former Nissan executive Andrew Palmer taking the wheel of the sports car manufacturer.

The role has been vacant since Ulrich Benz stepped down in 2013 after 13 years in charge.

“We’re delighted that Andy will join us as our new chief executive at this important time at Aston Martin,” Aston Martin said in a statement. “Andy’s wealth of experience on the global automotive stage in marketing and sales, engineering and technology, and luxury and brand management will be instrumental in taking Aston Martin forward through its most significant and ambitious period of investment to date.”

Chartered engineer Mr Palmer, pictured, is currently chief planning officer and executive vice-president of the Japanese motoring giant and will join Warwickshire-based Aston Martin once “a transition period” with Nissan is completed.

Mr Palmer, who has a doctorate in management from Cranfield University and Masters in Product Engineering from Warwick, began his career in the auto industry in 1979 at the age of 16, when he joined Automotive Products Limited as an apprentice. Seven years later he joined Austin Rover and eventually worked his way up to become chief engineer of transmissions.

In 1991 he began his career with Nissan, becoming business administration manager at the company’s European technical centre, and in the following years held a variety of positions that saw him based in Japan since 2001.

Responsibilities in his last job at Nissan included electric vehicles, marketing and global sales.

One of his first jobs at Aston Martin will be to set about reversing the company out of its current loss-making situation.

In October the company posted a pre-tax loss of £24.6m for the year to December 2012, up from a £21.2m run into the red the previous year.

The increased loss was the result of reduced sales, down 9pc to £461.2m, with global sales volume down to 67,500 units, from a peak of 110,000 units in 2007.

The company chose not to pay a dividend to shareholders, despite paying out £30m to investors a year earlier.

Accounts filed at Companies House blamed the “market segment [which] has been severely affected by recession” and pinpointed “weakness in European markets and vehicle launches occurring in the fourth quarter”.

The company, which celebrates its 100th birthday this year, was majority-owned during the period by Kuwait’s Investment Dar. However, in mid-December, London-based Investindustrial agreed to invest £150m in return for a 37.5pc stake.

more