Aston Martin Names Current Bentley CEO as New CEO

Aston Martin named Adrian Hallmark as its new CEO on Friday.

Hallmark is currently CEO of Bentley and will assume his new position at Aston Martin after October 1. In its own statement, Bentley said it would name Hallmark's successor in due course.

Aston Martin's current CEO is Amedeo Felisa, a Ferrari veteran who was CEO at Maranello at one point. He was hired in 2022 to replace former AMG CEO Tobias Moers, who took over as CEO of Aston Martin in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic.

Moers failed to turn around Aston Martin's losses and several Aston Martin veterans left during his tenure; 78-year-old Felisa was pulled out of retirement by Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll while a new generation of sports cars were developed, company. Felisa also oversaw the technology partnership with Lucid that was announced last year.

Hallmark, like Felisa, is an automotive industry veteran with executive experience in the U.K., U.S., and Asia; he was Bentley's sales manager from 1999 to 2005. He then joined JLR and led Jaguar before returning to Bentley in 2018 to serve as CEO.

Critically important for Aston Martin, which is still hemorrhaging cash, his background is in sales. He will also oversee the development of Bentley's future electric vehicle portfolio, the first member of which is due in late 2026. Similarly, Aston Martin plans to launch EVs, the first of which is also scheduled for 2026.

Felisa will remain in her post as Aston Martin CEO until Hallmark takes over, and will oversee the launch of the DBS successor later this year, Aston Martin said. The new car, which will follow the recently unveiled new DB12 and Vantage, has been spotted in test runs and could revive the Vanquish name.