By Gary S. Vasilash

On March 22 Bentley Motors announced that Adrian Hallmark, who had been chairman and CEO of the company since 2018, was leaving the company.

Evidently he left under good conditions as Gernot Döllner, chairman of the executive board of Audi and responsible for the Progressive Brand Group, which includes Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati, within the Volkswagen Group, said, “I would like to thank Adrian Hallmark for his significant commitment over the last years and wish him well in his personal and professional future.”

That professional future was defined quickly.

On March 22 Aston Martin announced that Adrian Hallmark would be joining the company as executive director and CEO, starting no later than October 1.

Generally there is a bit of a gap between the announcement of one’s departure and one’s arrival.

But that’s certainly not the case with Hallmark. Odds are he will have his stuff moved from Crewe to Gaydon in far fewer than some seven months.

Hallmark said about his departure: “Bentley has had a great influence on me. To redefine luxury mobility for the future with such a strong brand is a task that I took on with full commitment and great pleasure. The time has now come for me to turn to new challenges. I would like to express warm thanks to the entire Bentley team for all that we have achieved together in the last few years.”

And of his arrival: “The transformation of Aston Martin is one of the most exciting projects within the ultra-luxury automotive industry. I am looking forward to continuing the Company’s great momentum and utilizing my experience and passion to further unleash this iconic brand’s potential and take it to even greater success.”

Sounds like his previous gig was a bit easier than his new one will be.

When someone describes something as “most exciting” that generally means “this is going to be really hard.”