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Aston Martin tapped Bentley\u2019s chief executive officer, Adrian Hallmark, to take over as CEO and stabilize the luxury-car maker synonymous with James Bond.<\/p>\n
Hallmark will replace 77-year-old Amedeo Felisa no later than October 1, Aston Martin said Friday. He\u2019ll be the fourth CEO to lead the company since billionaire Lawrence Stroll became executive chairman in 2020.<\/p>\n
Hallmark, 61, led Volkswagen AG\u2019s Bentley for the past\u00a0six years<\/a>, bolstering its margins by leaning into personalized vehicles and instituting greater discipline on pricing and inventory. Aston Martin\u2019s transformation is one of the most exciting projects in the luxury-car industry, said Hallmark, who previously held senior roles at Porsche and Jaguar Land Rover.<\/p>\n Aston Martin has repeatedly needed to raise more capital since Stroll rescued the company four years ago. Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund, China\u2019s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and EV maker Lucid Group Inc. have taken stakes in the UK company since mid-2022.<\/p>\n The CEO announcement comes after Aston Martin earlier this month completed a \u00a31.15 billion ($1.4 billion) refinancing to ease investor concerns about its balance sheet.<\/p>\n During his time in charge of Bentley, Hallmark helped to turn the ultra-luxury British brand around by cutting costs, hiking prices and focusing on\u00a0personalized vehicles<\/a>. He joins Aston Martin after Bentley\u2019s second-best year in its history.<\/p>\n \u201cOn just a few thousand more cars than we used to sell in the 2000s, we\u2019re now making three times, four times the profit per year,\u201d he told reporters this month.<\/p>\n Hallmark also postponed the launch of Bentley\u2019s first fully electric vehicle to late 2026, rather than next year. That mirrors a move made by Aston Martin, which has\u00a0pushed back<\/a>\u00a0its first battery model by a year amid a lack of demand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the new Fortune CEO Weekly Europe newsletter to get corner office insights on the biggest business stories in Europe. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n