A New Road

Andy Palmer’s running of Aston Martin has not been without its controversial decisions. But these seem to be giving the carmaker its best times in a generation.

- Josh Sims

“I’M AN ARROGANT BASTARD,” laughs Andy Palmer, the CEO of Aston Martin. “Of course I knew that I would be pilloried by some for suggesting the likes of an SUV should be made by a sports car company like this one. But that [kind of criticism] doesn’t bother me. Ultimately, surviving is more important than staying true to an ideal that was relevant 50 or 60 years ago.”

Palmer is making changes. It’s all part of what the British manufacturer calls its Second Century Plan. As the name suggests, it’s very much about tomorrow, rather than yesterday, as esteemed, though as financially insecure, as that has been. “The fact is that we have to do something like an SUV,” he says. “Sports cars are a very small sector of the market in China, for example, where they just haven’t grown up with them. But it is very big into SUVs. Sure, the brand there is pretty strong because of the connection to James Bond. But we have to seed the ground for what will become one of our biggest markets. And, you know, China is the biggest market for cars in the world, so we have to be there.”

It’s a clear case from a rational leader: Aston Martin has to break with its tendency to look backwards. Take the esteemed DB line— Bond’s choice—which this year marks its 70th anniversary. “It’s funny isn’t it?” says Palmer. “DB stands for David Brown [one of Aston Martin’s historic owners] but it’s a name that’s developed a life of its own. Brands only moved into the public consciousness by doing the same thing over and over again, and the DB line did beautifully over and over again. But it certainly wasn’t about profit…”