Aston Martin gets third CEO in as many years
Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers is to depart just under two years on from his joining the company in the stead of Andy Palmer. In Moers’ place will come former Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa, who left the Italian marque in 2014 after 26 years of service in various roles. Joining him as Chief Technical Officer will be Reoberto Fedeli, also bringing with him valuable experience at Ferrari.
Rumours of Moers’ imminent departure have been circulating for a while, following reports of friction at the top and throughout the company. Moers is known for his ruthlessly efficient approach to leadership and business, and while a number of the changes he made were undoubtedly to the benefit of the marque, it’s believed the process wasn’t smooth sailing politically. A number of high-ups have upped and left in Moers’ tenure, as well as driving dynamics ace Matt Becker, who famously flew the Lotus nest for the Aston gig a couple of years ago.
Regardless of the hearsay, Moers does reportedly leave the company in far better shape than when he found it, with efficiency in production and development boosted enormously. He also orchestrated a comprehensive model improvement strategy, with mid-term plans expected to bear fruit over the next 12 to 24 months too, as the existing range of GTs goes into the mid-cycle refresh stage.
He also killed the in-house V6 engine project, which he described as a ‘concept engine’ that would be too expensive to see through to production. The first big change we saw and felt was with the Vantage F1 Edition, a much-improved version of the marque’s entry-level sportscar. He also pushed through the reinvention of the ‘production’ Valhalla, revealed last year at Goodwood, which took on a new, less extreme look and swapped the aborted V6 for Mercedes-AMG’s flat-plane crank V8 in addition to hybrid assistance. We should see that car go into production in 2024.
In the incoming new talent, Aston will find a valuable insight into the workings of a chief rival. It’s been said on a number of occasions in recent years, by Palmer, Moers and others, that Aston Martin’s goal is to become the British Ferrari. Aston’s assault of mid-engined machinery, starting with the Valkyrie hypercar, continuing with the SF90-rivalling Valhalla and maturing with a series production 296 rival potentially wearing a Vanquish badge, is well under way. These, in addition to the revitalised GT range, show that the cogs are turning. What changes the incoming team makes, we will be curious to see.
Aston Martin
Tobias Moers
Amadeo Felisa
