Aston takes a detour off comeback trail

This was supposed to be a comeback year for Aston Martin and its retailers with the arrival of its DBX SUV, a major component of the automaker's Second Century business plan issued in 2015.

But halfway into 2020, the British ultraluxury brand — which has struggled financially since going public in 2018 — has experienced more turmoil. The DBX is still set to arrive at dealerships this summer, but it will now go on sale without one of the key executives behind the vehicle, Andy Palmer.

Palmer stepped down as CEO last month. He is to be replaced by Mercedes- AMG CEO Tobias Moers, who is set to start his new role on Aug. 1.

Last week, the automaker said it would cut up to 500 jobs, or about 20 percent of the company's work force, as the COVID-19 pandemic saps consumer demand and the need for vehicle production.

The change in CEO followed the addition of a new executive chairman, Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, in April. Stroll has been instrumental in resetting the company's business plan after the consortium he controls invested $656 million in the automaker in February.

Part of Stroll's fortune has been from investing in fashion brands such as Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors.

Ken Gorin, CEO of the Collection, a Miami-area luxury dealership group representing nine brands, including Aston Martin, has known the new chairman for over 25 years and noted that Stroll has dealer experience having owned a Ferrari dealership in Canada.

"Change is always part of the business," said Gorin, who is also chairman of the Aston Martin dealer advisory panel for the Americas. "With Lawrence Stroll taking his stake in Aston Martin, I expected that there would be a change at the top."

Gorin has been an Aston Martin dealer since 1997 and credited Palmer, who became CEO in 2014, for moving beyond a one platform lineup and revamping the automaker's portfolio, pointing to the DB11 and its variants, the DBS, the Vantage and the most visible product change, the DBX.

Palmer "brought a sense of growth and he brought a sense of change that was very much needed," Gorin said.

Aston Martin has 44 dealerships in its Americas region, including 36 in the U.S. The attitude among Aston Martin's U.S. dealers is strong, Gorin said, especially since the DBX is set to arrive at U.S. dealerships in the August-September time frame, he noted.

While the DBX will arrive years after the Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus and Rolls-Royce Cullinan, it will be the freshest face of the group, and that's critical since the first year's release is a significant part of sales, said Apollo Chang, platform general manager at Hi Tech Motor Cars in Austin, Texas, which sells Aston Martins, along with other brands including Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

"More often than not, half of our Bentley sales have been Bentaygas," Chang said. "I can foresee the same with the DBX."

The Americas region, which continues to be led by President Laura Schwab, is Aston Martin's largest by sales volume globally. Schwab was hired by Palmer away from Jaguar Land Rover in 2015.

"She is the best president we've ever had," said Gorin of Schwab. "She is a terrific executive, one of the best CEOs in the industry. I know that her vision and Lawrence's vision will be aligned, and they're going to work so well together because they're both so dealer oriented."

Moers, who joined Mercedes-AMG in 1994, became CEO of the performance division in 2013. Under his direction, AMG has taken on new levels in terms of products and sales as a subbrand.

"To be with Mercedes-AMG in the top position for as long as he has, I think Lawrence picked the right guy," said Gorin.

Chang was once a general manager of a Mercedes-Benz store and saw AMG products firsthand.

"I thought [Palmer] did a phenomenal job bringing the company from where it was to what it is now," said Chang. "But knowing that the next person coming in is Tobias, the familiarity with the stuff that he did for the company, does really excite me as well."

Despite the change in leadership, Gorin said for Aston Martin's dealers the time is to look forward to the future, not look back.

"It was great working with Andy," Gorin said. "I think the world of him. But when a company has a major investor come in, you expect them to make changes. It's not a surprise.

"I'm sure there's lots of people that are sad. I tend to be very excited because I highly respect Lawrence, his background, his renown with luxury brands. And that's what Aston Martin is, a luxury brand. I'm familiar with his vision and I'm really excited about the future."