Andy Palmer

Palmer's career as CEO of Aston Martin came to a sudden end on May 26, 2020, when the company announced that Palmer would be replaced by Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers. Moers was installed by Canadian financier Lawrence Stroll, who rescued Aston Martin with a 536 million GBP (USD 663 million) capital infusion, and who subsequently became executive chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda.

In September 2018, Palmer announced a charitable foundation to fund apprenticeships targeting young people from disadvantaged background. On Twitter, Palmer said "this commitment reflects my own experience as an apprentice at a time in my life when it’s time to give back." According to an Aston Martin statement, "the charitable foundation will operate independently of the apprenticeship scheme at Aston Martin Lagonda, which earlier this month welcomed its biggest ever intake of 50 apprentices and 26 graduates."

Palmer (not to be confused with the same-named Andy Palmer Bentley Team racing driver) is a licensed race car driver. He started racing while still at Nissan, driving a GT4 Nissan 370Z. A few months after taking the helm of Aston Martin, Palmer and his co-drivers, Marek Reichman, Alice Powell and Andrew Frankel, finished 5th overall and 4th in class at the Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour. He entered professional racing in 2017, when he applied for and received his MSA C Class international license., and only weeks later, he finished 20th overall and 2nd in class SP3, co-driven by chef and racer Paul Holywood, racer Pete Cate and motorsport commentator John Hindhaugh in an Vantage GT8 at the 2017 Hankook 24H COTA USA.

Palmer advises the UK government in export matters as an ambassador for the GREAT Britain campaign. In 2016, Palmer was asked to be an advisor to the UK Prime Minister in the area of Skills and Apprenticeships. Palmer serves as an Honorary Group Captain of the Royal Air Force.

Palmer became chief executive of Aston Martin in October 2014. He has gained wide recognition for bringing the iconic, albeit perennially loss-making Aston Martin brand on the path of success and profitability.

Arriving at Aston Martin in 2014, Palmer put in a one-two-three punch of new equity, a solid expansion plan, and inevitable cost reduction. He “put funding in place to launch one new model at least every year,” (Automotive News) sanctioned a new logistics center and a new factory in Wales to build the DBX SUV, while himself leading by frugality: “Flying back from the 2015 Geneva auto show, Palmer was spotted in economy class.” In Geneva, Palmer had presented Aston Martin's "Second Century Plan," and he unveiled the DBX cossover concept he had commissioned when only a few days on the new job.

Palmer is a guest professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, a professor at Coventry University and an industrial professor at Warwick University. In 2010, Palmer received an honorary doctorate from Coventry University.

Palmer is married (married to Hitomi Kamiomachi in 2004) and has a son and three daughters.

Adding to his duties as Program Director, Palmer was named President of Nissan Motor Light Trucks Company Limited in 2003. After establishing the LCV business unit within Nissan in April 2004, Palmer was promoted in April 2005 to Corporate Vice-President in charge of the unit. In February 2009, Palmer was appointed Senior Vice-President, and entered Nissan's Executive Committee. In October 2010, Palmer's responsibility was extended to include Global Marketing, Brand and Communications. In April 2011, he was named Executive Vice-President.

In September 2002, Palmer moved to Japan, where he became program director for Nissan's Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs).

Palmer joined Nissan in 1991 as business administration manager at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE), where he became Deputy managing director in 2001 after managing vehicle design and testing.

Palmer started his professional career in 1983 as a project engineer of UK Automotive Products Limited. In 1991, he became manual transmission chief engineer of Rover Group.

Andrew Charles Palmer CMG FIMechE (born 30 June 1963) is an English engineer and businessman. He was president and CEO of Aston Martin from 2014 to 2020. In 2017, he was appointed chairman of the productivity and skills commission of the new West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). Palmer was previously the chief planning officer, executive vice-president and member of the executive committee of Nissan Motor Company. Reporting directly to Nissan's president and CEO, Carlos Ghosn, Palmer shared the chief operating officer role with two Nissan executives. Palmer was also chairman of Infiniti, and president of Nissan Motor Light Truck Co, a member of the board of directors of Nissan (China) Investment Company (NCIC), and of Nissan's joint ventures with India's Ashok Leyland. He has been called an "engineer-turned-marketing guru [with a] raw instinct."

Palmer was born in June 1963 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Palmer entered a technical apprenticeship with UK Automotive Products Limited in 1979 at the age of 16. He received a master's degree (MSc) in Product Engineering from the University of Warwick, in July 1990, and a doctorate (PhD) in Engineering Management, from Cranfield University, in April 2004. Palmer is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Palmer holds a Diploma in Industrial Management from Coventry University. Palmer is a member and former board member of SAE International, and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.