Aston Martin hires Pedro Mota to lead Americas region

As Aston Martin begins the move away from gasoline engines and revamps its lineup in an effort to fend off new competitors, the British automaker is leaning on veteran executives with decades of experience at ultraluxury brands.

For the third time in three years, Aston Martin has appointed a new North American president of the Americas. He's Pedro Mota, 57, a Rolls-Royce and Porsche veteran who most recently worked as a senior adviser at Roland Berger, a global consulting firm.

Mota replaces Tony Joseph, McLaren's former U.S. boss, who left Aston Martin late last year after just 12 months on the job. Joseph took over for Adam Chamberlain, who also lasted just a year at Aston Martin.

In March, former Bentley boss Adrian Hallmark was appointed chairman and CEO of the company. Aston Martin says Hallmark will join the company before Oct. 1.

Richard Collar, 54, another executive from Rolls-Royce, is Aston Martin's head of revenue and business development, a new position in America at the company. Collar began his career at Rover Group in 1998, moved to BMW in 2000 and then joined Rolls-Royce in 2010.

Both Mota and Collar began work at Aston Martin April 8.

Mota spent 13 years at Porsche in a variety of sales and senior management positions before moving to Rolls-Royce in 2015. He was president of American operations for the company until 2018 when he returned to Porsche, where he served as vice president of marketing in early 2022.

"Aston Martin is delighted to welcome Pedro Mota as our Regional President in the Americas. Strengthening our leadership in this important and strategic market, Pedro is joined by the recent appointment of Richard Collar as Head of Revenue and Business Development, with both individuals holding significant experience in the ultra-luxury automotive industry," the company said in a statement.

Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin's executive chairman, said earlier this year the company is delaying its first electric sports car until 2026 and will instead focus on hybrid vehicles.

"The consumer demand [for electric vehicles], certainly at an Aston Martin price point, is not what we thought it was going to be two years ago," Stroll told journalists. He said there is "much more driven demand" for plug-in hybrid vehicles, especially for a company like Aston Martin, as people "want some electrification ... but [to] still have the sports car smell and feel and noise," Reuters reported.

A growing number of automakers are offering models that overlap in price and performance with Aston Martin's sports cars and the DBX SUV.

Next year, for example, JLR is launching the Jaguar GT, the first of a new generation of six-figure electric Jaguars aimed at the hearts, wallets and garages of Aston Martin customers.

This year, Aston Martin enters a new segment with its first supercar, the Valhalla, which is powered by a V-12 engine and electric motors. Production will be limited to 999 vehicles and each will cost at least $800,000.