Tuesday 16th December 2014

Matt Becker joins Aston Martin - official

Former Lotus man confirmed for Aston Martin; will shape the way future Astons drive and handle

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If leaving Lotus was a wrench for Matt Becker it must have been made easier knowing he had quite a job to go to at Aston Martin. Like his father before him, Becker shaped the way Lotus cars drove and handled and put an instantly recognisable and highly respected character at the heart of the brand DNA. A skill he'll now be bringing to future Aston Martins in his role as Chief Engineer for Vehicle Attribute Engineering, as confirmed by a spokesman at Aston Martin exclusively to PistonHeads.

It's a key appointment by new Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer and ensures a distinctively British character at the heart of the brand's development team. Which will be an especially important job as Aston Martin makes the long-awaited move to using AMG developed engines and electronics.

Becker: bye-bye Lotus, hello (officially) Aston

Aston Martin badly needs this technological leg-up to compete with the latest from Porsche, Jaguar and forthcoming rivals like the Maserati Alfieri but it'll be up to Becker and his colleagues to ensure it's done in keeping with core brand values. As such his job ties together vehicle dynamics, NVH, aerodynamics and vehicle durability and proving across all vehicles in the range, including the first of what's described as a 'new generation' of models making its debut in 2016. As design boss Marek Reichman put it to us recently, "Aston Martin is at a junction in terms of investment. We have eras; Porsche has continuum, an evolution. We have clear design periods, whether that's the DB series of cars, the V8s or the more recent cars. But we're on the edge of a new era now."

And Becker will be at the heart of this, according to our source an example of "Andy Palmer continuing to build and develop Aston Martin's top class engineering team." Future Aston Martins may well be using German engines and know-how but the number of Brits like Palmer, Reichman and Product Development Director Ian Minards (Becker's new boss) in senior roles will hopefully ensure that quintessential character shines through. It'll need to - rarely since the golden era of the 50s has the GT/sports car sector had so many strong brands fighting it out with such accomplished and emotive products. It may not be a high volume sector but it's one that makes a lot of noise.

Becker officially starts his role on January 5 and must, by our reckoning, be enjoying gardening leave familiarising himself with all the rival products 'his' Aston Martins must beat. Which doesn't sound an entirely unpleasant way to spend time. Having given him time to get his feet comfortable under his new desk we'll be keen to set up a chat with him at the earliest opportunity.

[The Pits]

A very smart move by Aston Martin.

Given the aluminium VH platform Aston use is already something Matt Becker is very familiar with, he will have no difficulty in getting the very best out of it. If Aston let him do what he does best, the next generation of Astons will be stunning to drive. It's as simple as that. Probably just as well Lotus have ditched their plans to go up to that end of the market!

I'm pleased that he's at least continuing to work on cars designed and built in the UK and wish him the very best of luck. Hopefully Lotus will be able to afford to tempt him back one day.

[The Pits]

New AM V8 Vantage - twin turbo AMG V8, DCT and handling by Matt Becker...



If they get the weight down and get the styling right it could be sensational.

[The Pits]

Matt Becker doesn't do "bone shattering fidgety experience".

Drive a Lotus Evora then get very excited about the next generation of Aston Martins.

[The Pits]

I don't like the idea of AMG engines in an Aston Martin either but the existing V12 is currently built in Cologne so I can't really see how that is any better.

At least the Aston is still designed and built in Britain. That's about all you can hope for these days and it's still better for the UK to buy an Aston over a Porsche or Merc, wherever they get the engines from. So I say carry on as you were!