British luxury car marque Aston Martin is undergoing a period of change, and its recently appointed CEO isn’t giving himself much time to achieve a milestone the company has never achieved before.
Speaking to Automotive News, Adrian Hallmark – who was poached in 2024 from Bentley after 15 years and became Aston Martin’s fourth CEO in a five-year period – says he wants to be at the helm when the brand becomes sustainably profitable.
In its 112-year history, Aston Martin has never been sustainably profitable, but Mr Hallmark wants to make it so within 18 months, something he says was a key reason behind leaving Bentley
“To be the first guy in 112 years to make Aston Martin sustainably profitable – when I believe there is a way to do so – was irresistible,” Mr Hallmark told Automotive News.
“If it doesn’t work, nothing lost. If it does, we’ve done it.”
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Adrian Hallmark
When asked how long he’s given himself to turn around Aston Martin, Mr Hallmark replied: “It’s got to be 12 to 18 months, by then it has to be fixed.
“I’m not saying we will be delivering Ferrari-level financial performance by then but fixed in terms of going in the right direction to where it’s going to work, properly.”
Mr Hallmark believes Aston Martin’s aggressive product strategy has held it back from sustainable profitability in recent years.
“In the past four years Aston Martin has gone through a frenzy of product development,” Mr Hallmark said.
“I’ve never seen so much ambition: four cars in 18 months. In 25 years, none of the brands that I was directly or indirectly associated with ever tried that. It almost worked, but not every car was perfect on day one and there have been several delays.
“The difficulties were not because of a lack of money. At Bentley, we were spending at a similar rate five-plus years ago and Aston Martin is less than half the size of Bentley.
“So, this is a genuine endeavor. From the Vantage, DB12, Vanquish, Valhalla and Valkyrie, we’ve never had a portfolio like it.”
It appears Mr Hallmark is prioritising Aston Martin’s current product portfolio over future models, having delayed its inaugural EV again.
Now due before 2030 – though without a specific date – the EV was initially scheduled for a 2025 launch which last March was pushed back to 2026, and more recently revised for 2027.
It’s still unknown whether the first Aston Martin EV will be a sports car or a more practical model like an SUV, and what nameplate it’ll use.
“You either replace an existing nameplate and take the brave pill or create a new incremental model. The original plan was to go with an incremental model, but we’re looking at other options,” said Mr Hallmark.
The EV has previously been confirmed to use a front electric motor developed by the brand and a rear motor produced by US EV manufacturer Lucid.
While Aston Martin only launched its first hybrid last year – the Valhalla PHEV supercar – it aims to soon launch more fuel-saving models, which will help combustion engines continue to account for a majority of its sales by 2030.
Like the Valhalla, future Aston Martin PHEVs are expected to use powertrains developed by Mercedes-AMG, which currently has electrified versions of four- and eight-cylinder models.
The executive also said Aston Martin is planning to become “full electric some time between 2035 and 2040”, likely after the impending 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars in Europe.
