Andy Palmer leaves Nissan to become CEO of Aston Martin

[Kompresshun]

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/09/02/andy ... -official/

Aston Martin has been without a helmsman since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the chief executive office at the end of last year, stepping back to serve as non-executive chairman in a semi-retired ambassadorial capacity. The British automaker, now on the cusp of a new era, has been running without a CEO since, but has now named Bez's replacement in Andy Palmer.

Interesting news, considering the other departures that have happened at Nissan lately.

[Bubba1]

I'm sure the world will soon be clamoring for CVT equipped Aston Martins. Good luck, Andy, and don't let the door hit you in the tush.

[RicerX]

I find it awesome that the guy who labeled the BRZ/FRS as mid-life crisis cars left for a company that produces nothing except actual mid-life crisis cars.

[krash]

I'm worried for Aston's future....

[OriginalWheelman]

I'm worried for Aston's future....

[numbnuts240]

i am not amused.

[numbnuts240]

i am not amused.

[gwoods]

Aston Martin had long been the Mitsubishi of high end cars to me. I don't hate the looks some of the cars I actually love (V12 front engine rear drive with a pedal operated clutch). I'm always impressed when I see one on the road because its running.

Maserati is nearly the same product at half the cost the two companies should merge and focus on building a blindingly fast beautiful car for under 100k they would sell every single one the could produce.

[BusyBadger]

Should we now start spelling it a**-ton Martin?

[Eikon]

You guys are harsh!

Let's not forget that Andy has been involved here at NICOclub. It's not often that an executive from a car company has the courage to interact directly with car forum members. It's especially rare when those interactions are veiled behind the anonymity of the internet forums where people will are significantly more harsh and brutal than they would be in a live interaction.

So.. I give Mr. Palmer a lot of credit for his willingness to interact with our forum. I wish him the best of luck with Aston and his future career.


However, I'm sure I agree with the rest of the enthusiasts on this forum who hope the next chief of product design for Nissan North America will help us get some of the FUN back in Nissan.

[Bubba1]

Should we now start spelling it a**-ton Martin?

Nah, let's see what Andy does first. He might do well. I suspect A-M hired Andy to nudge them more toward the 21st century. In recent years, they've kinda become a bit anachronistic as the epitome of traditional British grand touring. the Italians have evolved more toward mid engine/flappy paddle technological terror track monsters. AM still has a still sexy old school shape with a proper 6 speed, a big Front engine RWD set up, and a proper trunk. But will still be very respectable when thrashed. That's kinda cool imho.

While I don't see Andy stuffing a crappy Jatco CVT in one, I suspect he's gonna follow the exotic industry trend and it'll soon be buh-bye manual, and hello flappy paddles/mid engine. I also see Andy pushing for a little more differentiation between models, which is a rut A-M seems to be stuck in, but hopefully he resists temptation for a frigging crossover.

[gwoods]

first act should be to copy the brilliant grill headlight design of the Ford Fusion!

[lne937s]

You guys are harsh!

Let's not forget that Andy has been involved here at NICOclub. It's not often that an executive from a car company has the courage to interact directly with car forum members. It's especially rare when those interactions are veiled behind the anonymity of the internet forums where people will are significantly more harsh and brutal than they would be in a live interaction.

So.. I give Mr. Palmer a lot of credit for his willingness to interact with our forum. I wish him the best of luck with Aston and his future career.

However, I'm sure I agree with the rest of the enthusiasts on this forum who hope the next chief of product design for Nissan North America will help us get some of the FUN back in Nissan.

I think the other thing most people also forget is what bad shape Nissan was in back in 1998. They had accumulated a massive amount of debt, were losing money hand over fist in an up economy and were an economic crisis away from bankruptcy, similar to GM in 2006. But they turned it around despite the burst of the dot com bubble and without a massive bailout, paid off their debt, increased sales during the last recession... and are now profitable with record sales and market share, more than twice what they were 15 years ago. Whether you personally like it or not, product had a lot to do with that turnaround.

In order to sell the 5% of enthusiast cars, you have to be successful in the 95% of other cars. And I personally think Nissan has done a pretty good job with the 370Z and GTR (although I wish they would bring the EU Pulsar here in NISMO trim as well). We can lament the lack of affordable RWD with a manual transmission, but we likely wound not be in the position to discuss it if it were not for cars like the Rogue and Altima. NICO club was in grave danger of joining the ranks of the Studebaker owners club, Pontiac owners club, AMC owners club or SAAB owners club-- we can thank guys like Andy Palmer for keeping something like a new Silvia even a possibility.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Mark my words, he'll get them to make an SUV/CUV of some kind.

don't let the door hit you in the tush.

[Jesda]

"When you see top executives running for the exits there's something big time wrong going on in the company. Since Nissan is doing well from a sales and profit standpoint, that could suggest a clash of personality."
--John McElroy, Autoline

Palmer is among several Nissan execs to abandon ship. One went to Tesla, another to Cadillac, another to Peugeot.

[lne937s]

"When you see top executives running for the exits there's something big time wrong going on in the company. Since Nissan is doing well from a sales and profit standpoint, that could suggest a clash of personality."
--John McElroy, Autoline

Palmer is among several Nissan execs to abandon ship. One went to Tesla, another to Cadillac, another to Peugeot.

The other explanation is likely compensation and workload. Western executives who have proven business results probably expect more than typical Japanese executive compensation. And if you ever noticed where Andy Palmer was making various announcements and consider that he still has to do work all around the world while travelling, he will undoubtedly have more personal time at home with Aston Martin.

[OriginalWheelman]

You almost have to change companies to get any kind of proper raise / job change anymore. It's really not surprising.

[gwoods]

You almost have to change companies to get any kind of proper raise / job change anymore. It's really not surprising.

THIS

[Jesda]

It also confirms what Peter DeLorenzo said about the stubbornness of upper management (Ghosn) when it comes to developing new products, building brands, and taking risks.

Nissan is one giant cookie factory that pumps out oatmeal crossovers.

[gwoods]

and lots of Altima's and Versa's

[MinisterofDOOM]

I love Aston's V12 cars. But then I remember that that V12 is derived from the same blahtastic 3 liter Duratec V6 that was never really any good in the Taurus. But then I think "Aston clearly improved the design when gluing two of it together to make a V12." And then I realize I don't really care because it's hard to argue with the performance of Aston's V12 monsters.

But of ALL the parts sharing... A double Duratec?! REALLY?!

[Jesda]

Future Astons are likely to be AMG powered.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Andy Palmer leaves Nissan, and Mazda drops a stunning new Miata.
Best. Week. Ever.

[Jesda]

Andy Palmer leaves Nissan, and Mazda drops a stunning new Miata.
Best. Week. Ever.

Reviving this thread just to quote this.