Last week, a report from Autocar India claimed sources had said Gerry McGovern, the chief creative officer at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), had been fired, with no immediate response from the brand taken as confirmation of the speculation.
The Autocar India report additionally claimed McGovern was “escorted out of the office”, further fuelling rumours of animosity between the man and brand.
However, in a statement to Automotive News Europe, JLR has categorically denied McGovern was fired, though it has yet to comment on whether he remains employed by the company.
“It is untrue that we have terminated Gerry McGovern’s employment and we do not intend to further comment on speculative stories,” a JLR spokesperson told Automotive News Europe.
McGovern joined Land Rover in 2004 and was soon promoted to the brand’s head of design role in 2006, during which time he oversaw the launch of the Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Discovery Sport and the new Defender, among the wider model lineup.
He was then 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 earlier this 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.
It is not yet known whether McGovern remains as an employee of JLR, as he has also been a member of the board of directors for the carmaker.
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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