Iconic British sports car maker Aston Martin Lagonda has hired Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers as the company’s new Chief Executive. He will replace Andy Palmer, who will step down at the end of the month after almost 6 years in the top job.
Moers will begin his role in August 2020 and in the meantime Chief Manufacturing Operations Officer Keith Stanton will be appointed interim Chief Operating Officer.
In his role at Aston Martin, Moers will help further improve the company’s brand, engineering prowess, and the skills of its people. Moers said there is “ a significant opportunity to harness the strengths of the business to successfully deliver the planned product expansion and brand elevation.”
Moers joins the British automaker from Mercedes-AMG, which he initially joined in 2002 as the VP of Vehicle Engineering. In 2013 Moers was promoted to CEO and has since more than doubled the company’s product portfolio, quadrupled the number of AMG vehicles sold, and established a pipeline of electric vehicles.
In a press release, Aston Martin Lagonda Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll said: “ I am delighted to welcome Tobias to Aston Martin Lagonda. He is an exceptionally talented automotive professional and a proven business leader with a strong track record during his many years at Daimler AG, with whom we have a longstanding and successful technical and commercial partnership, which we look forward to continuing.”
Moers said, “I am truly excited to be joining Aston Martin Lagonda at this point of its development. I have always had a passion for performance cars and relish the chance to work for this iconic brand which I was close to on the technical side at the beginning of the partnership between the two companies.”
Aston Martin is in the middle of a push to reinvigorate its brand and had plans to launch an electric car. However, those plans were officially delayed in January 2020, after the automaker lost over £100 million in 2019 despite increased sales.
Aston Martin’s shares jumped 28% upon news of the leadership change.
