Aston Martin has confirmed it is reviewing its management team, following speculation that boss Andy Palmer will be replaced at the helm of the company by AMG boss Tobias Moers on Tuesday in a report in the Financial Times.
The British sports car maker has responded to the report in a brief written statement. It said: "Aston Martin Lagonda notes recent press speculation. The company confirms that it is reviewing its management team and a further announcement will be made as and when appropriate."
Palmer's position as chief executive has been the subject of speculation since billionaire Lawrence Stroll led a consortium that bought 25% of the firm last month, selling part of that shareholding on to another consortium led by Mercedes-AMG F1 team principal Toto Wolff.
Last month Stroll reiterated his belief in the product plan set out by Palmer and his team, focusing initially on the launch of the new DBX SUV, then the Valkyrie hypercar and then a new mid-engined supercar, called Valhalla.
However, with Palmer having led the firm to its public IPO in 2018, and then overseen setbacks - including a £120m loss in the first three months of this year - that led to the share price falling by 90% from that point, his position now appears to be under threat.
When asked by Autocar to confirm that Moers was leaving the firm a spokesman said: "We do not comment on speculation."
Moers has notably grown AMG's presence and profits since taking the helm of the lucrative performance division of Mercedes, which owns a stake in Aston Martin and is an engine and component supplier to the firm.
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AM and AMG should have...
pursued closer ties earlier on. It's very expensive for a luxury GT brand to develop everything themselves. The DBX has come late, perhaps now, with the car market in an unprecedented slump, even too late. The Vantage V8 is a poorly designed car compared to its stunning iconic predecessor drawn by Fisker, and should have been fitted with the spectacular AMG 3.0 Straight Six which propels the AMG GT-43 and GT53. Cut costs, Aston and rebadge yourself into Aston Martin Geräte - AMG.
This is a non-story
Virtually no one ever buys a company and says - carry on as you were. That's why they buy companies. Anyone who has ever worked for a company that has been taken over knows the score. When Company B takes over Company A, B always installs it's own management team and gets rid of A's existing team.
Palmer would have gone, come what may, it's just how it works. The fact that Aston was performing so poorly from a financial and sales point of view, and the fact that Moers was clearly available, having been unhappy (if reports are to be believed) at the direction of travel for AMG, (Merc want to downside the engines to 4 cylinders because they massive AMG units are pushing up overall emissions for Merc and hence risking EU fines) sealed Palmer's fate.
Aston Martin
went from being a maker of beautiful cars, built from the Ford parts bin, with questionable build quality and reliabilty, to a maker of "visually challenging" cars built from the Mercedes parts bin, with questionable build quality and reliability..
They should have stuck with the former..
Aston Martin should be brought out by Daimler
Agree! AM owners get very defensive when you say their DB9 V12 engines are actually two V6 Mondeo engines glued together built in north Colonge Germany..
With BMW owning Rolls Royce and VW group owning Bentley it is a no brainier for Daimler[merc] to purchase AM especially now they can buy AM for nothing now the share price has collapsed. Astons are virtually mercs anyway, customer amg engines, interior and infotainment is all Mercedes. All that is missing is for Aston Martin to be profitable under stable German ownership and not British who couldn't manage a p!ss up in a brewery
yawn
Agree! AM owners get very defensive when you say their DB9 V12 engines are actually two V6 Mondeo engines glued together built in north Colonge Germany..
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Not defensive. Just really really bored. No Aston Martin thread is complete until some smarty-pants recites this tedious fact. Let's just take it as read at this point shall we?
jezzajezza wrote:
Not defensive. Just really really bored. No Aston Martin thread is complete until some smarty-pants recites this tedious fact. Let's just take it as read at this point shall we?
[/quote]
We don't get defensive, just disappointed. It's not a "tedious fact," it's a tedious falsehood. It's simply untrue.
No idea whether the potential change is good news. The worst thing that could happen is for Benz to take over Aston Martin. The result would be "Astons" that are effectively rebadged Benzes -- shared platforms, and more engine sharing. Such a thing would in no way be an Aston Martin. That the current Vantage and DB11 V8 use a bought-in AMG engine is bad enough. That the AMG engine is a great engine is irrelevant -- it belongs in AMGs. An Aston must have an Aston engine, or it's not really an Aston. Yes, I know how the V12 and the previous V8 were developed and manufactured. Astons need to be Astons -- do it right or don't do it all. Would a Ferrari be a Ferrari with someone else's engine? No. And no, a Bentley that is a Porsche or VW under the skin and uses an Audi engine isn't a Bentley.