Currently reading: Lotus chassis guru joins Aston Martin

Development of a new era of Aston Martins to be overseen by Matt Becker, who leaves Lotus after a quarter of a century

Lotus chassis guru Matt Becker has left the Norfolk sports car firm to take up a similar role at Aston Martin.

Becker will take the role of chief engineer VAE (vehicle attribute engineering) at Aston from 5 January. His role at Lotus as chief engineer, vehicle test and development, will be filled by Dave Marler, a 17-year veteran of Lotus Engineering.

New Aston chief Andy Palmer has given Becker responsibilities including vehicle dynamics, NVH (noise, vibration, harshness), aerodynamics and vehicle durability and proving. He will report directly to Ian Minards, Aston’s product development director.

Becker will play a key role in developing the next generation of Aston Martins, which are due to be launched from 2016 with a new architecture and powered by Mercedes-Benz V8 engines. He had spent 26 years in Norfolk, following in the footsteps of his father, Roger. 

At Lotus, Lotus Motorsport technical manager Gavan Kershaw will take on extra responsibilities with road cars to assist Marler in his new role.

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Mark Tisshaw

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Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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KenF 18 December 2014

At least he didn't go to

At least he didn't go to Porsche or McLaren. I just hope its not the start of an exodus of top talent from Lotus.
KenF 17 December 2014

Big blow for Lotus

Big blow for Lotus
KenF 17 December 2014

Big blow for Lotus

Big blow for Lotus