In Ian Fleming’s spy novels, James Bond drives a Bentley.

It is only later, in the movie versions, that 007 switches to an Aston Martin – most famously the gadget-laden DB5 complete with machine guns and an ejector seat.

Amid levels of secrecy worthy of MI6 itself, Adrian Hallmark has just the pulled off the same, spectacular move.

He stunned the luxury car sector on Friday by quitting Bentley, after six years in charge of the Crewe-based luxury car maker, to take the wheel at Aston Martin, based almost 100 miles away in Warwickshire. It was all the more remarkable because Hallmark, in what would turn out to be a swansong interview, had just set out his vision for Bentley’s future.

This included a revised timetable for the future electric vehicles, alongside unveiling Bentley’s second-highest profits ever – driven largely by the ‘jaw-dropping’ numbers of customers who wanted to personalise their cars.

But what is it that awaits him at Aston – one of Britain’s best-known brands but also one of the biggest stock market flops in London in recent memory – when he arrives?

Hallmark has some experience in turning companies around, having overseen Bentley’s own revival. He is Aston Martin’s third chief executive in nearly as many years after chairman Lawrence Stroll -– a Formula One billionaire – ousted Andy Palmer in 2021. Two other chief executives have been and gone since then.

Palmer had steered Aston through an overvalued stock market float in 2019 that valued the luxury marque at £4.3 billion.

But revenue warnings, spiralling losses and emergency fundraisings dogged Aston even before the pandemic hit sales.

Ever since, Stroll has been trying to turn it into an ‘ultra-luxury’ brand after years of Palmer’s strategy to build cheaper cars.

Results for 2023 show the company made a £240 million loss despite turnover rising. And earlier this month Aston announced it had raised £1.15 billion through its latest refinancing.

Experts say the challenges Hallmark faces at Aston are particularly acute. ‘The biggest cloud on the horizon is its electrification strategy, which has been woollier than others and behind the curve,’ says Sophie Lund-Yates of investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.

He also needs ‘to get the basics right’ such as tackling production delays of the DB12 model.

‘He will have his work cut out,’ said Julie Palmer of business consultancy Begbies Traynor.

‘Steering Aston Martin will test his skills in new ways,’ she adds, as the government pushes for increased sales of electric vehicles – a common hurdle across the automotive sector. 

Bentley has recently delayed its plans for an all-electric line-up due to the changing market conditions. 

Aston Martin’s own entry into the electric arena has hit the buffers, with the launch of its first electric car now postponed until 2026. Insiders say after six years turning around Bentley and preparing for an electric future, it was the prospect of a new challenge that prompted Hallmark to quit.

His sudden move clearly blind-sided Bentley and its German parent Volkswagen as no successor had been lined up.

‘Bentley has had a great influence on me,’ Hallmark said. ‘To redefine luxury mobility for the future with such a strong brand is a task that I took on with full commitment.’

But the time had come for ‘new challenges’. Of his new job he promised ‘to ‘unleash this iconic brand’s potential’. Palmer says if Hallmark can repeat his success at Bentley ‘Aston Martin should be in safe hands’. Or as 007 once observed: ‘You only live twice.’