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Andy Palmer Appointed Aston Martin CEO

Dr. Ulrich Bez, the man that headed the British sports car marque in the last period of time, has stepped down from his chief executive officer role back in November 2013. Due to his age (70 years old), Dr. Ulrich Bez decided to retire and let younger talent steer Aston Martin's future. And that talent comes in the form of Andrew Palmer, who is 51 years old.
Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster 1 photo
Photo: Aston Martin
Andy Palmer will lead the company in its next phase of technology and product creation. The British manufacturer already talked with Daimler about borrowing a 4-liter twin-turbo V8 engine for its DB9 replacement and a few electric and electronic bits and bobs. Thus, Aston Martin's near future is expected to be a real challenge in terms of product development and drivetrain solutions.

A British-born chartered engineer, chartered manager and businessman with 35 years of automotive industry experience, Andy Palmer has previously worked as chief planning officer, executive VP and member of the executive committee of Nissan Motor Company, reporting directly to the president and CEO, so you could say that he's got the right resume for the job.

His responsibilities included corporate and product planning, program management, global sales, electric vehicles, IS/IT and global marketing communications. Palmer also served as chairman of the Infiniti brand. Philippe Klein will replace him as CPO at Nissan starting September 15th, 2014. Andy started his automotive career in 1979, when he was just a 16-year-old lad, as an apprentice at U.K.-based Automotive Products Limited. In 1986 he joined Austin Rover to become transmissions chief engineer. Then he joined Nissan in 1991 and was based in Japan for the past 13 years.

A statement from the shareholder board of Aston Martin said: “We’re delighted that Andy will join us as our new CEO at this important time at Aston Martin. 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.”
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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