Adrian Hallmark

Spear’s Review

Adrian Hallmark was announced as the new CEO at Aston Martin after a glittering quarter-century career in the automotive industry, working across the US, Europe and Asia for industry giants including Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley. At the latter, he served as chief executive from 2018 to 2024, having shored up the carmaker’s efforts to create luxury electric vehicles. He also presided over a tenfold increase in the firm’s profits.

‘Bentley has had a great influence on me. To redefine luxury mobility for the future with such a strong brand is a task that I took on with full commitment and great pleasure,’ Hallmark said of his time at the firm.

Hallmark will be Aston Martin’s fourth chief since 2020, and will join the role at what is perceived to be a testing time for the brand: a fall in demand in China and supplier challenges have contributed to low sales in the first quarter of 2024 and a 10 per cent fall in revenues. Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin’s executive chairman, is said to have been in talks with other leading industry executives before Hallmark’s appointment.  

Announcing the high-profile move, Stroll said Hallmark was one of the ‘the highest calibre leaders not just in our segment, but in the entire global automotive industry’. He said Hallmark would bring valuable experience across both ‘ultra-luxury’ and ‘British manufacturing’.