Exclusive: Morgan bosses detail ambitious growth plans

Until now, Morris, who started on the Malvern Link shop floor as a metalworking apprentice, has been closely involved at every level of company management. With more cars, more investment, more facilities, more people and electrification to contend with, Morris acknowledges that he will need to concentrate more on strategic thinking.

Both Morris and Fumarola were visiting the South Kensington dealership, officially dubbed Morgan Works London, to mark London Craft Week, for which Morgan put on special displays to show off the hand-finished, bespoke nature of its construction methods.

Three of the company’s best artisans – Steph on upholstery, Marcin on metal forming and Will on woodwork – were on site, working on part-finished cars lifted temporarily out of the normal build process.

Fumarola, an engineer by training, with a 30-year career working both for large OEMs and low-volume luxury manufacturers, promises a comfortable partnership with Morris as chairman and seems an entirely different character than you might expect of an Italian car executive running what is now an Italian-controlled company in Britain. He lists his strengths as “international exposure” and “an understanding of global market dynamics”.

Fumarola, whose past jobs at Fiat, FCA, Audi, Ferrari and Lamborghini have usually had a prominent marketing element, said: “We believe we have the products to attract a younger generation of owners. Tradition is fine, but we also have an opportunity to make Morgan a more adventurous lifestyle brand. Our owners tell us this themselves.”

Neither Fumarola nor Morris puts it like this, but it’s apparent that the new CEO’s arrival will spark a fresh examination of Morgan’s plans. No conclusions have yet been drawn, but they agree that at least four burning questions will soon come into focus.

One will be to decide whether – or perhaps how soon – Morgan will need a third model. It currently classes the Morgan Plus Four and Mogran Plus Six variants as one model, given their similarities. Another will be to form new partnerships for the EV era and to revisit existing deals, such as the engine supply agreement Morgan has with BMW.

A third will be deciding how and when Morgan will move to electrification, and for how long it will build ICE models for slow-to-change markets such as the US and some Far Eastern locations. Morgan has already said the Plus models and the Super 3 are “protected” for electrification but has not clarified whether it is considering hybrids or full EVs. Tellingly, Morgan recently announced the hiring of a new chief technical officer, Matthew Hole, whose key role is as head of electrification.

Despite his varied affiliations, Fumarola is a lifelong Morgan lover, citing early contact with a neighbourhood Mog owner in his home country. “What I have always liked best about Morgan is the way the car can add so much to an owner’s quality of life,” he said.