1. Early life, education and academic achievements

2. Career
    Nissan  Aston Martin  UK Government  Palmer Foundation 

3. Recognitions

4. Controversy

5. Personal life
    Family  Racing 

6. See also

7. References

8. External links

Andrew Charles Palmer {{postnominals|country=GBR|CMG|FIMechE}} (born 30 June 1963) is an English chartered engineer and businessman. He has been called an "engineer-turned-marketing guru [with a] raw instinct."^[1] He is the President and Group CEO of Aston Martin.^[1] In 2017, he was appointed Chairman of the Productivity and Skills Commission of the new West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).^[2] Palmer was previously the Chief Planning Officer, Executive Vice-President and Member of the Executive Committee of Nissan Motor Company.^[4][5] Reporting directly to Nissan's President and CEO, Carlos Ghosn, Palmer shared the chief operating officer role with two Nissan executives.^[6][3][4] Palmer also served as Chairman of Infiniti, and as President of Nissan Motor Light Truck Co., Palmer was a member of the board of directors of Nissan (China) Investment Company (NCIC), and of Nissan's joint ventures with India's Ashok Leyland.

Early life, education and academic achievements

Palmer was born in June 1963 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.^[5][6] Palmer entered a Technical Apprenticeship with UK Automotive Products Limited in 1979 at the age of 16. He received a master's degree (MSc) in Product Engineering from the University of Warwick, England, in July 1990, and a Doctorate (PhD) in Engineering Management, from Cranfield University, England, in April 2004. Palmer is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Palmer holds a Diploma in Industrial Management from the Coventry University, England. Palmer is a Member and former board member of SAE International, and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute).^[6]

Palmer is a Guest Professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, a Professor at Coventry University and an Industrial Professor at Warwick University. In 2010, Palmer received an honorary doctorate of technology from Coventry University.^[6][6][7]

Career

Palmer started his professional career in 1983 as a Project Engineer of UK Automotive Products Limited. In 1991, he became Manual Transmission Chief Engineer of Rover Group.^[8]

Nissan

Palmer joined Nissan in 1991 as business administration manager at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE), where he became Deputy managing director in 2001 after managing vehicle design and testing.^[8][17]

In September 2002, Palmer moved to Japan, where he became Program Director for Nissan's Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs).^[6]

Adding to his duties as Program Director, Palmer was named President of Nissan Motor Light Trucks Company Limited in 2003. After establishing the LCV business unit within Nissan in April 2004, Palmer was promoted in April 2005 to Corporate Vice-President in charge of the unit. In February 2009, Palmer was appointed Senior Vice-President, and entered Nissan's Executive Committee. In October 2010, Palmer's responsibility was extended to include Global Marketing, Brand and Communications. In April 2011, he was named Executive Vice-President.^[6][17]

In his position as Chief Planning Officer of Nissan, Andy Palmer was "responsible for global product planning, global program management, global market intelligence, global IS, global Infiniti business unit, global marketing communications, global corporate planning (including OEM business), zero emission vehicle planning and strategy, global battery business unit, and global sales."^[9][10]

Aston Martin

Palmer became Chief Executive of Aston Martin in October 2014. He has gained wide recognition for bringing the iconic, albeit perennially loss-making Aston Martin brand on the path of success and profitability.^[11][12][13]

“From a very early age I wanted to be the CEO of a car company,” Palmer told Autocar, “but when I decided to take this one from Nissan, I was pretty sure people would say I was mad."^[14]

Arriving at Aston Martin in 2014, Palmer put in a one-two-three punch of new equity, a solid expansion plan, and inevitable cost reduction. He “put funding in place to launch one new model at least every year,” (Automotive News^[15]) sanctioned a new logistics center and a new factory in Wales to build the DBX SUV, while himself leading by frugality: “Flying back from the 2015 Geneva auto show, Palmer was spotted in economy class.” ^[15] In Geneva, Palmer had presented Aston Martin's "Second Century Plan," and he unveiled the DBX cossover concept he had commissioned when only a few days on the new job.^[16]

UK Government

Palmer advises the UK government in export matters as an ambassador for the GREAT Britain campaign. In 2016, Palmer was asked to be an advisor to the UK Prime Minister in the area of Skills and Apprenticeships. Palmer serves as an Honorary Group Captain of the Royal Air Force.^[6][17]

Palmer Foundation

In September 2018, Palmer announced a charitable foundation to fund apprenticeships.^[18][19] On Twitter,^[20] Palmer said "this commitment reflects my own experience as an apprentice at a time in my life when it’s time to give back." According to an Aston Martin statement,^[18] "the charitable foundation will operate independently of the apprenticeship scheme at Aston Martin Lagonda, which earlier this month welcomed its biggest ever intake of 50 apprentices and 26 graduates."

Recognitions

• In 2012, Palmer was designated No. 1 in the "Top 50 Most Influential British People in the Global Automotive Business 2012" and selected to Auto Express Hall of Fame.^[21][22]
• In 2013, Palmer was named the automotive industry's most influential, and the world's third most influential chief marketing officer (after Phil Schiller of Apple Inc. and Younghee Lee of Samsung) by the CMO Influence Study, conducted by marketing firm [https://web.archive.org/web/20140102194028/http://www.appinions.com/influence-studies/the-second-annual-cmo-influence-study/ Appinions] for Forbes magazine.^[23]
• Under CMO Palmer, Nissan's Interbrand score entered the top 100 in 2011, and moved to 65 in 2013. Among Interbrand's Best Global Green Brands 2013, Nissan took No. 5. Interbrand credited Palmer with "elevating marketing to a science."^[24][25]
• Palmer was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the British automotive industry.^[26][27]
  
• In 2014, Palmer was voted one of EVO's "25 most important people of the car industry." ^[28]
• In 2016, Palmer was selected for the first Cranfield University "Distinguished Manufacturing Alumnus/a of the Year Award”.^[29]
• In 2018, Palmer was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Auto Express.^[30]

Controversy

• At the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, Palmer said that "it's complete bullshit" to assume that electric vehicles move the CO2 issue to the powerstation. Palmer conceded that EVs could pollute even less if electricity generation would be made greener across the globe.^[31][32]
• In October 2013, Palmer made headlines by calling the Toyota 86 and the jointly developed Subaru BRZ "midlife crisis cars."^[33]
• In March 2014, Palmer drew attention after Global NCAP tested a number of India's best-selling cars (including the Tata Nano, Suzuki-Maruti Alto 800, Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai i10) and found their safety lacking. "I think the people who criticise these cars for not meeting US or European crash standards are living in a dream world," Palmer was quoted by Autocar.^[34] "We are talking about cars built to transport people who would otherwise be four or five-up on a motorcycle. These people today can't afford more, and if we fit safety systems we will drive the prices up and they'll choose the motorbike again. A car with a body and individual seats is much safer than a bike." A Nissan car was not among the tested vehicles.

Personal life

Palmer's hobbies include "reading, listening to punk rock, and running by necessity."^[6]

Family

Palmer is married and has four children (One of which is acclaimed musician Zack Palmer, known for his work in the bands Upswing and Daylily); he married Hitomi Kamiomachi in 2004 and has a son and three daughters.^[6]

Racing

Palmer (not to be confused with the same-named Andy Palmer Bentley Team racing driver) is a licensed race car driver. He started racing while still at Nissan, driving a GT4 Nissan 370Z.^[35] A few months after taking the helm of Aston Martin, Palmer and his co-drivers, Marek Reichman, Alice Powell and Andrew Frankel, finished 5th overall and 4th in class at the Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour.^[36] He entered professional racing in 2017, when he applied for and received his MSA C Class international license.,^[37] and only weeks later, he finished 20th overall and 2nd in class SP3, co-driven by chef and racer Paul Holywood, racer Pete Cate and motorsport commentator John Hindhaugh in an Vantage GT8 at the 2017 Hankook 24H COTA USA.^[38][39]

See also

• Aston Martin
• Infiniti
• Nissan

References

External links

• Video, Q&A with Andy Palmer
• Just-auto interview with Andy Palmer
• Official bio at Nissan

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