Andy Palmer

Andrew Charles Palmer (born 30 June 1963) is an English automotive executive and engineer.

Palmer was born in June 1963 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Palmer attended Kineton High School.

Palmer entered a technical apprenticeship with UK Automotive Products Limited in 1979 at the age of 16.

Palmer started his professional career in 1983 as a project engineer of UK Automotive Products Limited.

He received a master's degree (MSc) in Product Engineering from the University of Warwick, in July 1990, and a doctorate (PhD) in Engineering Management, from Cranfield University, in April 2004.

Palmer is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Palmer holds a Diploma in Industrial Management from Coventry University.

Palmer is a member and former board member of SAE International and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute

He was given honorary doctorates by Coventry and Cranfield Universities, and is a professor at Coventry University, industrial professor at Warwick University and a guest professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.

In 1991, he became manual transmission chief engineer of Rover Group.

Latterly in his career, he was described by Automotive News Europe as an "engineer-turned-marketing guru [with a] raw instinct."

Palmer joined Nissan in 1991 as business administration manager at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE), where he became Deputy managing director in 2001 after managing vehicle design and testing.

In September 2002, Palmer moved to Japan, where he became program director for Nissan's Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs).

Adding to his duties as Program Director, Palmer was named President of Nissan Motor Light Trucks Company Limited in 2003.

After establishing the LCV business unit within Nissan in April 2004, Palmer was promoted in April 2005 to Corporate Vice-president in charge of the unit.

In February 2009, Palmer was appointed Senior Vice-president, and entered Nissan's executive committee.

He has been described as the 'Godfather of EVs' due to his work launching the Nissan Leaf in 2010 whilst COO at the Japanese company.

In October 2010, Palmer's responsibility was extended to include Global Marketing, Brand and Communications.

In April 2011, he was named Executive Vice-president.

In his position as Chief Planning Officer of Nissan, Andy Palmer was "responsible for global product planning, global program management, global market intelligence, global IS, global Infiniti business unit, global marketing communications, global corporate planning (including OEM business), zero emission vehicle planning and strategy, global battery business unit, and global sales."

At Nissan, Palmer is credited with pioneering new technologies, through his support of the Zeod hybrid Le Mans project and Bladeglider sports car concept.

At the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, Palmer said that "it's complete bullshit" to assume that electric vehicles move the Carbon dioxide issue to the powerstation.

Palmer conceded that EVs could pollute even less if electricity generation would be made greener across the globe.

Palmer was described as the "main proponent of electric vehicles" at Nissan and led on the development of the LEAF electric car.

Bloomberg described Palmer as "instrumental in developing the Japanese carmaker's battery-powered LEAF."

In October 2013, Palmer called the Toyota 86 and the jointly developed Subaru BRZ "midlife crisis cars."

Palmer is also known for launching Aston Martin's first SUV, the DBX, and first mid-engined sports car, Valkyrie, during his tenure as CEO from 2014 to 2020.

Palmer was previously CEO and Executive Vice-chairman of electric bus and van company, Switch.

He resigned from this role in 2022.

Palmer was appointed Interim CEO of PodPoint in July 2023.

In addition, Palmer is founder and CEO of Palmer Automotive Ltd (most notably leading a bid on behalf of Punch, to acquire Nissan Motor Iberica in Barcelona ), and Chairman of InoBat, a Slovakian developer of electric vehicle 'intelligent' batteries, Chairman of Hilo Ltd, the EV Scooter manufacturer, Chairman of IONETIC, the battery pack technology company and Chairman of Brill Power, the battery technology provider.

In March 2014, Palmer drew attention after Global NCAP tested a number of India's best-selling cars (including the Tata Nano, Suzuki-Maruti Alto 800, Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai i10) and found their safety lacking.

"I think the people who criticise these cars for not meeting US or European crash standards are living in a dream world," Palmer was quoted by Autocar.

"We are talking about cars built to transport people who would otherwise be four or five-up on a motorcycle. These people today can't afford more, and if we fit safety systems we will drive the prices up and they'll choose the motorbike again. A car with a body and individual seats is much safer than a bike."

A Nissan car was not among the tested vehicles.

In 2017, Palmer was appointed chairman of the productivity and skills commission of the new West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

He was previously the chief planning officer, executive vice-president and member of the executive committee of Nissan Motor Company.

Reporting directly to Nissan's president and CEO, Carlos Ghosn, Palmer shared the chief operating officer role with two Nissan executives.

Palmer was also chairman of Infiniti, and president of Nissan Motor Light Truck Co, a member of the board of directors of Nissan (China) Investment Company (NCIC), and of Nissan's joint ventures with India's Ashok Leyland.