Dr. Bez is no more

[robgt]

I guess by now you have all heard Dr. Bez is as good as gone. Could I please ask that we do not labour on about any perceived failings that occurred while he was C.E.O. Instead can we celebrate instead what he achieved.

On a personal note Molly and I met him once when we are at Gaydon. His boundless enthusiasm and love of all things Aston Martin was so apparent. Most of all for us he gave his time and his patience which was great.

[bogie]

I think he did a great job ....he was what they needed at the time, right guy at the right time. the more important question is who comes in now to replace him .Has it been announced anywhere ?

[avinalarf]

I have heard a rumour that they are after Jockman for the job but he is playing hardball.
Apparently he wants an endless supply of Cuban heel shoes and their budget will not stretch to that.

Edited by avinalarf on Friday 7th February 09:21

[Neil1300r]

Quite right Rob.
His achievements:-
Wasting money on AM racing
Wasting money on personal vanity racing
Wasting money outsourcing Rapide manufacture to Austria
Cygnet
Talking bks about the Cygnet and why he wanted it
Confusing the market by marketing a DB9, Virage, and DBS all at the same time
Wasting money outsourcing throttle bodies to China
Not installing a 8 speed box in the new Vanquish so it technically looks outdated compared to the competition
Not getting into the emerging markets, and China especially, soon enough
Having a huge ego, so can't see or admit to being wrong
Calling himself Mr Aston Martin

If you want boundless enthusiasm - buy a dog. But I wouldn't let one run a car manufacturer

[whoami]

Neil1300r said:

Quite right Rob.
His achievements:-
Wasting money on AM racing
Wasting money on personal vanity racing
Wasting money outsourcing Rapide manufacture to Austria
Cygnet
Talking bks about the Cygnet and why he wanted it
Confusing the market by marketing a DB9, Virage, and DBS all at the same time
Wasting money outsourcing throttle bodies to China
Not installing a 8 speed box in the new Vanquish so it technically looks outdated compared to the competition
Not getting into the emerging markets, and China especially, soon enough
Having a huge ego, so can't see or admit to being wrong
Calling himself Mr Aston Martin

If you want boundless enthusiasm - buy a dog. But I wouldn't let one run a car manufacturer

Quite a succinct and accurate summary.

Now, who's next?

[IanV12VR]

Rather than dwell on his shortcomings which were more than outweighed for what he did for the rebuilding of Aston has his replacement been recruited. Not seen anything.

Has he actually gone?

[jonby]

robgt said:

I guess by now you have all heard Dr. Bez is as good as gone. Could I please ask that we do not labour on about any perceived failings that occurred while he was C.E.O. Instead can we celebrate instead what he achieved.

On a personal note Molly and I met him once when we are at Gaydon. His boundless enthusiasm and love of all things Aston Martin was so apparent. Most of all for us he gave his time and his patience which was great.

Nothing wrong with celebrating what he achieved. I've met him a few times and he was indeed always enthusiastic & affable.

But I'm with others on here - he's also done plenty of things which are worthy of criticism and he seems to have been regarded as a walking timebomb by many of the staff as nobody knew what he would say and when in terms of inappropriate/confidential/misleading statements

In addition to the failings accurately listed above by others, their limited marketing spend compared to most car firms has been largely wasted in the wrong areas, the pricing policy of the products has been hopeless, V12 Zagato was an absolute disaster on top of some of the poor projects listed above and if they do yet another relaunch of works/tailored/Q/etc I think I'll scream

The modern era of DB9 onwards started under his stewardship and I think it is the latter half of his tenure where he and the company have lost their way a little by not building particularly well on the great foundation - I suspect the company would have been in better shape if he left 3/4 yrs earlier......

[Mr Aston Martin]

Neil1300r said:

Calling himself Mr Aston Martin

No that's me. Many times I have thought of changing the use name however its always good to remind yourself of your mistakes.

Slightly irked in Shropshire

[MollyGTi]

IanV12VR said:

Has he actually gone?

Heard it mentioned on Radio 2 this morning but haven't found details anywhere else today. We all knew it was going to happen and it must be due around now.

We need to know who is going to be at the helm of Aston Martin next ...

[moveover]

Neil1300r said:

Quite right Rob.
His achievements:-
Wasting money on AM racing
Wasting money on personal vanity racing
Wasting money outsourcing Rapide manufacture to Austria
Cygnet
Talking bks about the Cygnet and why he wanted it
Confusing the market by marketing a DB9, Virage, and DBS all at the same time
Wasting money outsourcing throttle bodies to China
Not installing a 8 speed box in the new Vanquish so it technically looks outdated compared to the competition
Not getting into the emerging markets, and China especially, soon enough
Having a huge ego, so can't see or admit to being wrong
Calling himself Mr Aston Martin

If you want boundless enthusiasm - buy a dog. But I wouldn't let one run a car manufacturer

Add to that:
Publishing a quarterly magazine all about himself

[Y100]

MollyGTi said:

Heard it mentioned on Radio 2 this morning but haven't found details anywhere else today. We all knew it was going to happen and it must be due around now.

We need to know who is going to be at the helm of Aston Martin next ...

Hope he's not handed in his keys just yet,,,I need some signatures from him next week.

[yeti]

robgt said:

Could I please ask that we do not labour on about any perceived failings that occurred while he was C.E.O. Instead can we celebrate instead what he achieved.

No, you can't Rob.

He should have gone 2-3 years ago, or right before he conceived of the Cygnet

Ford turned AML around, and then he nearly broke it again with his self-obsession or egomaniacal running of it.

Good post Speshul Neil

[MollyGTi]

Y100 said:

Hope he's not handed in his keys just yet,,,I need some signatures from him next week.

Bob - are you the next man-at-the-top?!

[robgt]

I think that with the current tide of criticism being thrown at Aston Martin with their lack of profit , dodgy Chinese plastic, recalls, gearboxes etc probably now is not the right time to slag off Dr.Bez. We have enough problems with Trolls as it is without giving them even more ammunition.

I have a father in law (late wife) who hates the fact that I own an Aston. Even when showing him pictures of my new Grandson he blurted out that AM had not made a profit. He revels in any adverse information about the company and takes any opportunity to tell me. As it is with the forum trolls so I propose let's talk about the good things that Dr.Bez has done not the bad.

[Jon39]

Some strong words have been flying.

I am not in a position to be able to judge Dr. Bez.
However, I can see that he has been at the helm, for a quite a portion of the Company's longest period of survival.

1913 -> 1920
1920 -> 1924
1924 -> 1925
1926 -> 1932
1932 -> 1947
1947 -> 1972
1972 -> 1975
1975 -> 1980
1980 -> 1987
1987 -> now

Those who have made critical comments might enjoy one of Mr. Warren Buffett's quotations. "I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful, that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will".

We have discussed before, that a sports car business is far from easy to run profitably. I wish the next CEO good luck.

[mikey k]

yeti said:

No, you can't Rob.

He should have gone 2-3 years ago, or right before he conceived of the Cygnet

Ford turned AML around, and then he nearly broke it again with his self-obsession or egomaniacal running of it.

Good post Speshul Neil

I have to say I'm with you two
Who gets the Segaway

[Neil1300r]

robgt said:

I think that with the current tide of criticism being thrown at Aston Martin with their lack of profit , dodgy Chinese plastic, recalls, gearboxes etc probably now is not the right time to slag off Dr.Bez. We have enough problems with Trolls as it is without giving them even more ammunition.

I have a father in law (late wife) who hates the fact that I own an Aston. Even when showing him pictures of my new Grandson he blurted out that AM had not made a profit. He revels in any adverse information about the company and takes any opportunity to tell me. As it is with the forum trolls so I propose let's talk about the good things that Dr.Bez has done not the bad.

I wasn't trolling! With the list you've given of faults, Dr Bez was in charge so the buck stops with him.
Can't think of a good decision Dr Bez has made in the past 5 years.

Had forgotten about the V12 Vanquish - how much extra power than a standard V12Vantage - None
Forgot about the killed at birth luxury 4x4 Lagonda - have a look at Pork - its whats made them really profitable in the same time period and allowed them to invest into the 911, including the GT3.

[montecristo]

I don't know much about Bez's tenure, but he gave us the Astons most of us drive, generally acknowledged as some of the most beautiful cars ever, and leaves the company with a fighting chance, which given its history and sector, is never a given. It's a hard line to tread between the purity but tinyness of Caterham or Morgan and the stability but commonness of Bentley. Whilst remaining independent, whatever that means these days, and as British as one can hope for in the car industry.

You can't be selective in what you attribute to Bez. Yes, some missteps, but also some great cars. Under a real idiot, there is a chance Aston would disappear, so I wouldn't be too harsh.

[Y100]

Jon39 said:

Some strong words have been flying.

I am not in a position to be able to judge Dr. Bez.
However, I can see that he has been at the helm, for a quite a portion of the Company's longest period of survival.

1913 -> 1920
1920 -> 1924
1924 -> 1925
1926 -> 1932
1932 -> 1947
1947 -> 1972
1972 -> 1975
1975 -> 1980
1980 -> 1987
1987 -> now

Those who have made critical comments might enjoy one of Mr. Warren Buffett's quotations. "I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful, that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will".

We have discussed before, that a sports car business is far from easy to run profitably. I wish the next CEO good luck.

Hear hear to that Jon. Being CEO I imagine gives that person the power to apply the seal of approval or not but not to run the company as a dictator. There would not be many that would argue the Cygnet was a good idea, on the contrary. However, step back and look at the line up we have as of today, impressive, most certainly. Again I agree with Jon, AML are comparatively a low volume sports car manufacturer, don't all such specialists struggle along at times.

[JohnG123]

At Least he sorted out all the quality control issues.

And no one will have any build issues with a new Aston Martin.