Opinion: What AMG's boss will bring to Aston Martin
Tobias Moers had worked for Daimler for 25 years, and boss of AMG since 2013. Photo: Supplied
As Aston Martin’s CEO Andy Palmer stands down and is replaced with AMG boss Tobias Moers, under its new leader the British brand is in for a wild ride – literally.
After speculation earlier in the week, Aston Martin Lagonda announced late yesterday that Moers had been appointed Chief Executive Officer.
“Tobias, 54, will be appointed to the Board as an Executive Director and will take over from Dr Andy Palmer. He will be based at the Company’s headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire and will join on 1 August, 2020,” said the statement
Moers has worked for more than 25 years with Daimler AG, and in 2013 was named CEO of AMG. During this time, he turned things around for the brand, doubling its product portfolio and quadrupling the number of AMG units sold.
Palmer's position as chief executive has been the subject of speculation since Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll led a consortium that bought 25 per cent of the firm last month, selling part of that shareholding on to another consortium led by Mercedes-AMG F1 team principal Toto Wolff, says Autocar UK.
Dr Andy Palmer (right) had been CEO of Aston Martin since 2014. Photo: Supplied
Stroll reiterated his belief in the product plan set out by Palmer and his team, focusing initially on the launch of the new DBX SUV, the Valkyrie hypercar and then a new mid-engined supercar, called Valhalla.
But Palmer’s position appeared under threat after a £120 million (NZ$240m) loss in the first three months of this year that led to the share price falling by 90 per cent from that point.
Moers has notably grown AMG's presence and profits since taking the helm of the lucrative performance division of Mercedes, which owns a stake in Aston Martin and is an engine and component supplier to the firm.
Moers will definitely shake things up for Aston Martin compared with Palmer. Both are very different characters.
I was at the Geneva motor show two years ago as the only Kiwi in a contingency of Australian motoring writers, who are infamous for their dogged questioning.
Moers opened the conference room door, saw it was the Australians and said loudly, “shit”.
A year previous, I had a scheduled interview with Palmer at Geneva motor show and was too busy catching up with the Aston Martin PR team, asking about their families, holidays etc that Palmer had to put his head out of the meeting room and asked if I was ready.
Palmers has been called an "engineer-turned-marketing guru [with a] raw instinct” and having worked for Nissan for 25 years, had spent time in New Zealand so we talked about him holidaying here with his family.
Moers too has spent time in New Zealand, not that he’d admit it. Instead of a family holiday, the former mechanical engineer has been at the Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground near Cardrona where his AMG products were being tested during the European summer.
The Aston Martin DB11 range (above) is sure to get the Moers tweak when he joins the British brand. Photo: Aston Martin
While Moers isn’t the type of person to sit around chatting about family holidays, he’s very hands on when it comes to his products.
In Australia for the Melbourne F1 grand prix five years ago, Moers went to the Gold Coast’s Norwell track for the exclusive media test drives of the GT S.
After driving the two-door sports car myself on the track, I asked for a hot lap to see what the 4-litre, V8 could do under skilled driving.
Instead of a Mercedes-Benz instructor, Moers volunteered. Who better to drive you in a car than the man who helped create the car.
He dialled in Track mode, turned off Traction Control. “I always do. As I drive, I want to know what the car is doing,” said Moers.
He then planted his foot, blipped up the gears through the steering wheel paddles and showed the GT S who was boss.
Tobias Moers revolutionised the GT range for AMG. Photo: AMG
I tried videoing the hot laps with my iPhone but within two seconds I was too busy keeping my balance than to focus on Moers’ driving and the track’s corners coming at me at death-defying speed.
In the second lap, Moers pushed the GT S even faster around the circuit.
As we drifted in quick succession around two tight bends, he said “I’m only giving you 80 per cent [capacity] because I’m CEO of the company so I don’t want to break the car”.
“And also because you have a journalist in the car?” I asked.
Silence.
And silence speaks volumes for Moers. Don’t expect to see him front a press conference any time soon to announce what his plans are for Aston Martin, though I’d expect you'll see a tweak in the likes of DB11 and Vantage, producing more variants of these popular models.
He also has vast experience at making performance SUVs, so the new DBX is sure to get a performance overhaul.
