Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers said to have departed top job

UPDATE: Since this story went live, our source in Europe has established Amedeo Felisa will take over the top job from Tobias Moers, while Felisa's former Ferrari colleague Roberto Fedeli will take on the role of Chief Technical Officer at Aston Martin.

However, it's understood Felisa will step down once the company's restructure has been completed.

The story has been updated to reflect the changes.

The story to here

Tobias Moers is rumoured to have stepped down as CEO of Aston Martin “with immediate effect,” according to WhichCar sources.

The former head of Mercedes-AMG, Moers took the top job at Aston Martin less than two years ago, but is understood to have clashed with billionaire Lawrence Stroll over the direction of the business.

The unconfirmed reports suggest Stroll, who leads a consortium which owns 16.7 per cent of Aston Martin, is pushing to fill the company’s top seats with former executives from Ferrari.

Sources told WhichCar former Ferrari boss and special adviser to Chinese supercar startup Silk-Faw, Amedeo Felisa, will be taking the reins as CEO at Aston Martin for the time being.

Felisa will be joined by Ferrari’s former technical director Roberto Fedeli, who will begin as Chief Technical Officer from July after fulfilling contract obligations at Silk-Faw.

4

It appears the news is a result of a power struggle at Aston Martin between Mercedes-Benz and Stroll.

While Mercedes views Aston as a way for performance arm AMG to compete indirectly with Ferrari using German know-how, Stroll’s camp wants to develop Aston Martin models in Italy using ex-Ferrari talent.

Mercedes-Benz currently owns 2.6 per cent of the British marque, but had planned to increase its ownership to 20 per cent by 2023.

The two carmakers have been growing closer in recent years, with many Aston Martin models utilising powertrains from Mercedes-AMG.

Mercedes was rumoured to have plans to bring future Aston Martin product development to Germany, but it now appears as if Stroll will get his way, with Aston Martin R&D looking likely to move to facilities located in northern Italy.

4

Above: Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.

The change will see Aston Martin’s UK headquarters in Gaydon limited to production and final assembly.

Former technical boss for McLaren and Lamborghini, Carlo Della Casa, is also said to be leaving Silk-Faw for Aston Martin, but it’s understood Marek Reichmann will continue to design Aston Martin cars for the time being.