JLR’s global design boss Gerry McGovern has made a sudden exit from the business, in keeping with widespread media reports.
McGovern, who was appointed to the JLR board in January 2021 in his role as chief creative officer, has been intrinsically linked to the brands for over 20 years, leading the teams liable for the modern Defender, the present Range Rover line-up and Jaguar’s re-launch and shift towards luxury electric models.
It has been almost a 12 months to the day that the controversial and crowd pleasing Jaguar relaunch campaign went live.
McGovern’s widely reported exit from JLR has not been confirmed by the carmaker but follows on from the brand’s latest chief executive officially taking on from Adrian Mardell last month.
Mardell announced he can be stepping down from leading JLR in August after making the choice to retire.
JLR is now led by former Tata Motor’s group chief financial officer (CFO) PB Balaji (pictured left).
On the time of his appointment as JLR’s latest CEO, Balaji said: “It’s my privilege to steer this incredible company.
“Over the past eight years I even have grown to know and love this company and its redoubtable global brands.
“I stay up for working with the team to take it to even greater heights. I thank Adrian for his immense contributions and need him well for his next innings.”
Balaji had been working as CFO for Tata since November 2017.
He has led large, diverse, global teams in multi‑cultural environments out of Mumbai, London, Singapore and Switzerland, and has been closely associated “with the successful transformation on the Tata Motors Group”.
McGovern’s alleged exit from the business is the newest in shift of changes for the corporate, after announcing plans to pause Jaguar production and totally relaunch the brand, announcing plans for a brand new CEO in August, to falling victim to a widespread cyber attack in September.
JLR’s UK dealer network will likely be hoping for Balaji to regular the ship for 2026 as he prepares the business to launch its latest Jaguar products in global markets.
This Article First Appeared At www.am-online.com
