Ferdinand Porsche's great-grandson has managed to secure an experienced team for his young company.
Building an experienced leadership team can be the difference between failure and success in the automotive space. Just ask Hyundai and its expanding N performance division that has developed class-leading cars like the i30 N hot hatch and Kona N crossover under the watchful eye of Albert Biermann, former BMW M boss.
Piech Automotive AG, a company co-founded by the great-grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche, has now announced its own leadership shake-up. Most notably, former Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers will be joining Piech Automotive as its Chief Technical Officer and Co-CEO. Moers helped to put Aston Martin on a steadier path after years with Mercedes-AMG and could go a long way to establishing Piech Automotive among more prominent brands.
Joining Moers (pictured above) as Co-CEO of the Swiss brand will be Manfred Fitzgerald (pictured below), who will also fill the role of Chairman of the Executive Board. Fitzgerald, 58, spent 12 years with Lamborghini and helped to establish the maker of the Huracan as a globally successful iconic brand. He also worked with Hyundai to help grow the luxury Genesis division. With both Moers and Fitzgerald bringing a wealth of experience to the table, specifically in the sports car segment, Piech Automotive is in a better position to maximize the potential of its 600-horsepower GT sports car.
"With Manfred Fitzgerald and Tobias Moers, two established authorities from the sophisticated and rapidly evolving world of sports cars and automotive luxury brands join the Piech team," said Co-Founder Toni Piech.
"Both have a proven and enviable track record in this segment and possess extensive knowledge, an adept sense of how to communicate with exclusive customers, and a distinct understanding of luxury brands," continued Piech.
The reference to "exclusive customers" seems entirely appropriate considering that the electric Piech GT is expected to go on sale for over $200,000. The gorgeous coupe will be able to get to 62 mph in under three seconds and has a claimed range of over 310 miles. It will precede a four-seater limousine and an SUV, and the company previously expressed a goal of selling 10,000 cars annually.
Moers, who will "shape the future of the young Swiss brand," oversaw several retrenchments during his short tenure at Aston Martin. He helped the British marque increase sales and led the development of exciting new cars like the Vantage V12 and DBX707. Although Aston's early 2022 results show that it is still losing money, Moers has been credited with bringing some much-needed stability to the brand.
Toni Piech will be hoping to take advantage of the experience of Moers as not everything has gone according to plan for his company. Its supervisory board chairman, former VW CEO Matthias Mueller, departed because of "internal differences" and Piech was unwilling to elaborate on this late last year.
The Piech GT is slated for a mid-2024 launch in the US, Europe, and China. This gives Moers and Fitzgerald some time to settle before the brand's first car reaches customers.
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