ALERT: Jaguar denies it has fired Gerry McGovern, according to Motor1, which has reached out to the automaker for comment.
Jaguar Land Rover has abruptly sacked its long-time design boss Gerry McGovern, in a move widely seen as the first big flex of new chief executive PB Balaji and a direct response to Jaguar’s chaotic electric-era relaunch.
According to reports from Autocar and Autocar India, the 69-year-old chief creative officer was told to leave with immediate effect and “escorted out of the office” earlier this week.
JLR and parent company Tata Motors have both declined to comment, sticking to a terse “no comment” line despite intense media scrutiny.
McGovern’s exit lands just days after Balaji formally took the wheel at JLR following Adrian Mardell’s transition towards retirement on Dec 31.
The new CEO inherits a business still recovering from a crippling cyberattack and trying to steady its finances while funding a costly shift to high-end electric Jaguars and Range Rovers.
Inside the design world, the departure borders on brutal.
It amounts to an unceremonious dumping of a staffer who has done so much for the company; in this industry, you are often only remembered for the last project you did.
That “last project” is the controversial Jaguar reboot: a pink-led brand relaunch, Panthera design language and the radical Type 00 concept, all fronted by a heavily stylised ad campaign that barely showed the car.
The programme drew fierce criticism from enthusiasts and commentators, while a leaked letter from dozens of Jaguar designers complained about the decision to outsource key creative work to Accenture Interactive (now renamed Accenture Song).
The manner of McGovern’s removal has shocked staff and observers because his fingerprints are on almost every modern Land Rover hit, from the Range Rover Evoque and Velar to the reborn Defender and the current four-model Range Rover family.
He first made his name on projects such as the MG F and Land Rover Freelander before returning to Gaydon to lead Land Rover, and later group, design.
Analysts see the sacking as a clear signal that Tata wants tighter control of JLR’s direction after the death of Ratan Tata, a strong backer of McGovern, and after the brand relaunch misfire.
Industry watchers in Britain said the decision could easily backfire on JLR, and predict that rival carmakers would be quick to sound out McGovern for their own design studios.
Given his track record of turning design into serious margin on Land Rover’s flagship models, the veteran Brit is likely to be a very attractive catch for rival carmakers, particularly ambitious Chinese and premium brands hunting for global design star power.
