Former Tesla Exec Joins Aston Martin as CCO

British manufacturer Aston Martin has announced that Michael van der Sande will take over the Chief Commercial Officer position, to head the company's global sales. As part of the Executive Board of Management, van der Sande will work at the company’s headquarters in Gaydon, UK, and will report directly to Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin’s CEO.

“In his role as Chief Commercial Officer he will take responsibility for all commercial areas to further develop and strengthen these key areas of the business,” an Aston Martin statement reads.

If the name sounds familiar to you, that is because previously van der Sande has worked for several other automotive companies, such as Harley-Davidson and Tesla Motors. Prior to joining Harley-Davidson, van der Sande held various marketing and dealer development roles at Nissan Europe, Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars.

The 44-year-old executive joined Harley-Davidson in 1996 and was most recently Vice President and Managing Director for operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, overseeing more than 370 dealerships in nearly three dozen countries.

He took over the senior vice president for global sales, marketing and service at Tesla Motors in December 2008, from which he resigned in August 2009 due to personal reasons.

“Michael brings a wealth of experience at a global level to Aston Martin and I am delighted to welcome him to the team. His broad and successful experience on the global stage will help us to further develop Aston Martin’s presence around the world,” Dr. Ulrich Bez said in a statement for the press.