So Aston Martin, the car of choice for James Bond, has hired away a former Tesla executive to oversee global sales. Does that mean that Aston is in trouble, or that Tesla is finally becoming a serious player to be reckoned with in the automotive world? This is not to imply that Aston Martin IS in trouble, it’s just that in economic times like these, a car company like Aston Martin (or any other high end luxury brand) has to really watch its step. Either way, Aston has announced that Michael van der Sande has been appointed to the company’s newly created position of “Chief Commercial Officer”. Van der Sande, in addition to being on Aston Martin’s board of management will also report directly to CEO Dr Ulrich Bez.

The hiring move will, according to Bez, “will help us to further develop Aston Martin’s presence around the world.” Hmmm, then why hire a guy from Tesla, were there no other high profile automotive success stories out there?

Read the rest of this entry »

By Alex Kramer

Not content with simply having some of the finest luxury sports cars on the planet, Aston Martin has upped the ante in open-air motoring with its new DBS Volante convertible. Like the DBS Coupe (featured in the recent James Bond movie, “Quantum of Solace”) on which it is based, the DBS Volante is a statement in automotive design, combining supercar performance, sculpted elegance, and unbridled luxury.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to test the DBS Volante on a nice late-summer day, perfect for some top-down driving. Although we could only spend a short amount of time behind the wheel, a brief spin in the hills outside of Los Gatos, CA, confirmed that this is truly one of the finest automobiles on the road today.

Read the rest of this entry »