STRAIGHT TALK
ASTON MARTIN GETS SERIOUS WITH MOERS
Mark Gallagher on Aston Martin’s new man, Tobias Moers
If the British Geological Survey’s seismologists picked up any tremors in Warwickshire last month they can more than likely be explained by Aston Martin’s new chief executive striding into his Gaydon office for the first time.
Tobias Moers has arrived from Mercedes’ AMG business with a formidable reputation. A resultsdriven businessman who doesn’t fear a challenge – and doesn’t mind being feared – and whom executive chairman Lawrence Stroll hand-picked from a very short shortlist.
The arrival of 54-year-old German Moers should also have shaken Milton Keynes, Maranello and Enstone. For all the distracted talk about Racing Point’s ‘Pink Mercedes’, the competition should be rather more concerned about the overall ambitions of Stroll, Moers, and their technical partners at Daimler, to position Aston Martin at the forefront of Formula 1.
This year’s £536million Aston Martin rescue deal, led by Stroll and executed amid a global pandemic that has decimated car sales for healthy global success stories. In Moers he has appointed a boss crowned ‘The Engine King of Mercedes’ earlier this year by the Financial Times. In so doing, Stroll has strengthened an already mighty relationship with Daimler.
Daimler took a 5% stake in Aston Martin back in 2013, and it was Moers’ AMG engine division which set about providing engines, electronics and infotainment systems for the new DB11, Vantage and DBX models. This was always an important deal for Daimler but a critical partnership for Aston Martin, particularly now that Stroll and Moers will set about cutting Aston Martin’s product development costs wherever possible. Having access to Mercedes AMG’S box of technical goodies will play a key part in that.
Ola Källenius, chairman of the board at Daimler and head of Mercedes, was Moers’ predecessor at AMG and is sure the new Aston Martin boss is the right man for the job. As Moers sets about reshaping Aston Martin’s automotive business, Stroll’s parallel passion for Formula 1 will mean the relationship with Mercedes-benz deepens. businesses, never mind one that was already on its knees, is as courageous a move as any seen in the automotive industry.
Some call it foolhardy, but in Stroll we are talking about a serial investor who has never shied away from the challenges inherent in building
Toto Wolff has purchased a minor shareholding in Aston Martin, a sure sign the Mercedes F1 team boss can see both the opportunity triggered by Moers’ appointment and the wisdom of drawing Aston Martin closer.
Aside from Mercedes AMG providing powertrain technologies to both the Aston Martin road car and Formula 1 businesses, Stroll now has the added benefit of both Daimler and Wolff having some skin in the game.
It will be in Mercedes’ interests to see Aston Martin succeed – let’s say second place in the Formula 1 world championship with the odd win thrown in – which is good news for Stroll and his other investors.
It is equally good news for the likes of Racing Point’s technical director Andrew Green and sporting director Andy Stevenson, 20 years after they were celebrating Jordan’s third place in the 1999 constructors’ championship. Together with former Honda man Otmar Szafnauer they have witnessed the team endure a roller coaster ride since, thanks to the weird and wonderful owners the team has enjoyed and endured since that success.
Under Stroll, they know that things are set to get serious. For Formula 1, it means an Aston Martin team aligned with Mercedes helping to halt the ambitions of Red Bull, Ferrari and anyone else with serious designs on returning to the front any time soon.