Aston Martin seeks replacement for CEO Amedeo Felisa

Aston Martin is reportedly searching for a new CEO to replace Amedeo Felisa, who is approaching his 78th birthday.

A new report from Bloomberg alleges that Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll has been contacting bosses of other luxury brands, both past and present, as he hunts for someone to lead the next stage of the company’s wide-reaching transformation programme.

Stroll is expected to be hunting specifically for a long-term leader. Felisa has been at the firm since only 2022, when he replaced ex-CEO Tobias Moers, whose own two-year tenure in Gaydon was marred by mediocre financial results and the departure of several long-serving and high-ranking officials.

Felisa previously served as CEO of Ferrari between 2008 and 2016 and was lured out of retirement to take the top job at its British rival.

Under Felisa, Aston Martin has launched several crucial new cars – including the DBS 770 Ultimate, DB12 and highly exclusive Valour – and sealed a series of deals that will prove key to its prosperity as it transitions to an electric line-up.

In June 2023, it agreed a tie-up with Lucid, securing access to the American EV company's batteries and motors for an upcoming range of electric cars, starting with an SUV in 2025.

Aston Martin was also awarded £9 million by the UK government-backed Advanced Propulsion Centre in October, helping to support the development of its EV platform.

Speaking exclusively to Autocar in May 2023, ahead of the launch of the DB12, Felisa said: “Our big task now is to move Aston Martin more into the super-luxury world without losing any Britishness.

«We’re working on that. I believe our quality is now very good and the dynamics of our new car will be another surprise.”

In the company’s third-quarter financial statement, published in November, Stroll said it has “enormous excitement” about its future.