The arrival of Andy Palmer as chief executive of Aston Martin is about the best news we car lovers could have hoped for.

Apart from the comforting fact that Palmer is a proud Brit – still a desirable credential when it comes to running a company whose fundamental values are all British – he's also an accomplished engineer who loves cars and the car business.

Even better, he is an instinctive supporter of ground-breaking technology, as evidenced by his strong support for the Nissan Zeod hybrid Le Mans project and the more recent Bladeglider sports car concept that uses its most radical chassis principles.

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Most of all, Palmer is a grown-up. He has spent years in the ivory tower of the Nissan-Renault empire, negotiating mammoth deals with (and sometimes against) Carlos Ghosn, one of the biggest corporate beasts of all. He will have all the confidence required to steer a British supercar company into the new technology and profitability era that is needed.

It's a near-certainty that Palmer will already have faced up to potential complications surrounding Aston's peculiar ownership structure that has led others in the frame to doubt that they would have freedom to operate.

Aston's management consists of Kuwaiti interests whose bosses like having their hands on Aston's levers, an Italian private equity company most concerned with an early return on its investment, plus the Daimler group that has a five per cent stake. and will supply AMG engines and Mercedes-Benz running gear for the next Aston generation. Daimler's approval in this will have been more important than its small stake indicates.

There will be plenty to do. A new DB9, which will introduce a whole new design style for Aston, is less than two years away. There are similarly large projects planned for 2018 and 2020. As a matter of priority, the company must find ways of boosting sales volume and profits, because it is believed to have accumulated debts its present level of profitability cannot reduce.

It's not yet clear how soon Andy Palmer will actually take the Aston helm. Interested parties say it is a delicate question at present. But there is universal approval inside the Gaydon HQ for the shareholders' choice. For most, the Andy Palmer era cannot start soon enough.