There are clearly some major reshuffles taking place within Aston Martin at the moment, this despite what appears to be a calm and serene outlook on the surface. Firstly, the company’s CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, is reportedly about to resign to a more ambassadorial role for the company he has headed for more than a decade.
Secondly, the official announcement that the long-planned sale of a 35% stake in the company to Italian private equity group, Investindustrial, has been finalised. And thirdly, the announcement that the raucous Aston Martin V12 Vantage is no more for this world.
Now we can add a fourth and highly significant factor to that list. It has confirmed that Chris Porritt, Aston Martin’s chief engineer and the man responsible for development of the new Vanquish and the exclusive One-77 supercar, has joined Californian electric car company, Tesla.
A spokesperson for Tesla said Porritt will serve as the company’s vice president of vehicle engineering, replacing Peter Rawlinson, who left Tesla Motors in 2012. Porritt is no glorified pencil-pusher either, he has an extensive endurance racing background with Aston Martin and he has something of a reputation for testing his own products virtually to destruction.
Porritt will be working on Tesla’s next-generation vehicles, which are expected to include a new sedan and a successor to the original Tesla Roadster. Porritt was integral to the continued success of Aston Martin throughout the last decade, this despite the boutique British manufacturer not having much access to funding for new products.
Watch Porritt drive the wheels off and then explain his prized development project, the Aston Martin One-77; a bespoke project he was able to get off the ground in just 12-months.
This new acquisition clearly bodes well for South African born Elon Musk, and Tesla, which certainly looks to have a more secure future in the automotive sector if it continues to make bold and assured moves like this one.
