Aston Martin has hired former Tesla Motors’ vice president of marketing, Michael van der Sande, to run the newly created position of chief commercial officer. Van der Sande, 44, will be based at the company’s headquarters in Gaydon, England, and will report directly to Ulrich Bez. He will be tasked with “strengthening all commercial areas at the British luxury sports car brand,” reports Automotive News.

Van de Sande quit his position at Tesla in August after less than a year on the job. Before joining Tesla, he spent 12 years at Harley Davidson.

According to J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting, Aston Martin built just 1,415 units in the first eight months of 2009, compared with 4,480 the year before.

- By: Kap Shah