Nissan boss Andy Palmer moves to Aston Martin

Nissan boss Andy Palmer will leave the company to become the new CEO of Aston Martin.

According to a report in the Financial Times today, Palmer will help Aston Martin to "regain lost ground" against rivals including Porsche, Ferrari and Bentley.

Palmer had also been running Nissan's luxury arm, Infiniti, following the departure of Johan de Nysschen to Cadillac in July.

Reports suggest Palmer was Aston Martin's main target during the recruitment process, which is understood to have taken more than a year. Former Aston boss Ulrich Bez stepped down late last year.

Renault's product planning boss Philippe Klein will replace Palmer as the head of Nissan when he leaves later this month, and will report directly to Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn.

An Aston Martin spokesman said: "It's brilliant news, well worth the wait." There is no indication yet of when Palmer will take up the role. 

In his role in Nissan, Palmer was instrumental in Nissan’s entry into the Indian market. He also led Nissan’s entry into the Indian LCV market through a joint venture with Ashok Leyland. 

Nissan replaces Palmer with Philippe Klein

Meanwhile, Nissan has appointed Philippe Klein as its chief planning officer and a member of the company's Executive Committee following approval by the company's Board of Directors. The appointment is effective from September 15.

Klein, who will report to CEO Carlos Ghosn, will have global responsibility for Product Planning, Program Management, EV Sales and the Battery Business Unit, Marketing, Sales, Market Intelligence, and Vehicle Information Technology; he will be based at the company's Yokohama headquarters. He replaces Andy Palmer who has notified Nissan that he has accepted a position with another company.

"Philippe Klein will make a significant contribution to Nissan," said Ghosn. "He brings considerable engineering and product management expertise to Nissan as well as a deep knowledge of and a long experience in the industry and in the Alliance."

Klein joins Nissan from Alliance partner Renault where he most recently served as an executive vice president and a member of the Renault Executive Committee and as the head of Product Planning, Programs.

This is Klein's third assignment with Nissan since the formation of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. From 1999 to 2003, he was a Nissan vice president in charge of the CEO Office. He returned to Renault for a five-year period, returning in 2007 as a Nissan senior vice president in charge of the CEO and COO offices and Corporate Administration. He remained with Nissan through most of 2008 and then returned to Renault to lead the Product Planning, Programs there.

He joined Renault in 1981 as a member of the Engine Development Department. In 1992, he was appointed executive assistant to the Chairman. From 1994 until his first assignment in Nissan, Klein led engine development in the Powertrain Engineering Department and then he served as vice president for Process Quality in the Vehicle Engineering Department.

Klein earned degrees from the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Pétroles et Moteurs both located in Paris.