If Aston Martin ever comes knocking on your door and asking you to be its next CEO – which it might, based on how quickly it’s cycled through bosses lately – we’d suggest renting, rather than buying, a house near the firm’s Gaydon HQ. Let’s hope current chief Amedeo Felisa did that because reports suggest he’s on his way out.
Bloomberg claims that Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll has been reaching out to current and ex-bosses of other luxury brands to see if any of them might be interested in a job in the British Midlands. If the report is true the new head honcho would be Aston’s fourth CEO in as many years.
In 2020 the company parted ways with Andy Palmer, who’d spent six years in the hot seat, during which he had to weather a Covid-related sales slump and an IPO that resulted in the company’s share price crashing down soon after launch. Palmer was then replaced by Tobias Moers, whose former employer, AMG, was already supplying V8 engines to Aston. But Moers lasted a mere two years before he was booted out and former Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa was drafted in in May 2022.
Related: Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers Replaced By Ex-Ferrari Boss Amedeo Felisa
Felisa is 77, so there’s every chance that he only ever agreed to a short tenure to help stabilize the ship. Having led Ferrari for eight years up until his retirement in 2016, and helped give the Maranello brand the solid footing that made its own phenomenally successful IPO possible in 2015, Felisa’s name on Aston’s cast list must have offered reassurance to investors.
Since he took the job, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, China’s Geely, and Lucid have all taken stakes in the company. Plus, Felisa had already worked for years with Roberto Fideli, currently Aston Martin’s Group Chief Technical Officer, but in another life, Ferrari’s R&D boss. Who would you be tapping up to be the next Aston CEO?
Source: Bloomberg