Late last year, a report from Autocar India claimed sources had said Gerry McGovern, the chief creative officer at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), had been fired, ending his long tenure with the iconic British marque.
According to the report, McGovern was “escorted out of the office”, further fuelling rumours of animosity between the man and brand which he joined in 2004, having overseen the launch of the Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Discovery Sport and the new Defender in his time.
Days went by without acknowledgement of the report by JLR, however the carmaker later issued a statement to Automotive News Europe, categorically denying McGovern was fired, though it stopped short from commenting on whether he remained employed by the company.
Now almost three months on, the rumour mill has started up again, with Car Design News reporting McGovern remains employed by JLR according to an internal email sent to staff, however it’s not known in what capacity.
Following the early reports last year, JLR had told Car Design News that it was “not on record that Gerry has left the business”, something the company admitted “allows space for speculation.”
That speculation can now continue following the latest report, with JLR still listing McGovern on its publicly available board of directors, as well as with his chief creative officer job title.
McGovern was made chief creative officer – a position he may still hold – of Jaguar Land Rover in 2020, with his team launching the controversial Jaguar Type 00 concept last year.
The Type 00 will become the first production model under Jaguar’s new premium push, after the brand launched a huge rebrand campaign which drew international attention.
Autocar India reported last year that McGovern had been sent a letter from his internal design team in the lead up to Jaguar’s rebranding, with the staff concerned about an external company being used to head up the changes. It’s not known how involved McGovern has been with the rebrand.
His reported departure came just over a month after JLR gained a new CEO in PB Balaji, who was previously the chief financial officer at JLR’s parent company Tata Motors, and has been a board member of the British marque since 2017.
Balaji started as JLR CEO in November, and the timing of his appointment has been speculated as a catalyst for McGovern’s reported departure.
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