Aston Martin make Nissan’s Andy Palmer their new CEO

Andy Palmer (pictured) is taking the reins at Aston Martin Lagonda Aston Martin has effectively been without a boss since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the role last year, but that changes with the announcement that Andrew Palmer – until now, Chief Planning Officer of Nissan – is to step in to the role. There’s no specific start date for Andy Palmer at Aston, but Nissan has announced that Philippe Klein will take up Palmer’s role at Nissan on 15 September, so it shouldn’t be long before Palmer holds the reins at Aston Martin. But what exactly has persuaded Andy Palmer to jump from a big corporate behemoth like Nissan to a struggling luxury car maker with owners who either want to tug the operating strings (the Kuwaitis) or are looking for a quick return (Investindustrial)?

Skoda Fabia and Roomster: the 2010 facelifts

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 25 February 2010 23:05 Skoda's big news at the 2010 Geneva motor show is a brace of facelifts: the Fabia and Roomster duo both receive a cosmetic makeover, new engines and a smattering of fresh tech to keep mpg up and emissions down.As these first pictures confirm, this is a modest facelift. The massaged radiator grille and reprofiled, wider headlamps are the most obvious changes, but there's also a looping detail line on the bonnet that swoops down to encircle the badge, reminding us of the hood on the latest BMW 5-series.The changes are also rolled out to the muddy-puddles Scout models. And what's all this about a new Fabia vRS hot hatch?Ah yes.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante revealed at Pebble Beach

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante revealed at Pebble Beach (Photo credit: Kimball Studios, courtesy Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance) 2013 is a big year for Aston Martin – its 100th Anniversary – so Aston Martin at Pebble Beach this year is more than worth a look as Aston seeks to make a suitavly impressive spectacle at North America’s most prestigious car weekend. Top of the list of goodies – perhaps – for Pebble is the reveal this weekend of the convertible version of the new Vanquish – the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante – which gets a world public debut in front of the appreciative, and knowledgeable, crowd at Pebble. They’ll appreciate how clever Aston has been with the new Vanquish Volante which, despite using technology that’s really now past its sell-by date, they’ve managed to produce a convertible that’s incredibly stiff (certainly in comparison to the DBS Volante), beautiful to look at and performs as well as the Coupe.