Jaguar Land Rover’s design chief, Gerry McGovern, has left the automaker amid a shakeup instigated by the new CEO, P.B. Balaji. McGovern was fired and “escorted out of the office,” Autocar India reported, citing sources with knowledge of the situation inside JLR’s Indian parent company, Tata Motors. JLR declined to comment when contacted.

McGovern, 69, has overseen design for Land Rover and (later, after the departure of Ian Callum) Jaguar brands for a very long time. He started at Land Rover as Director, Advanced Design in April 2004, stating: “Land Rover fascinates me more than any other car maker because it has its roots in pure design as opposed to styling.”

His reported exit means McGovern will not be at the company to witness the launch of his most controversial project: the rebranding of Jaguar into a luxury electric rival to Bentley and other high-end brands.

Guiding force

McGovern became a guiding force at JLR after expanding the Land Rover lineup with innovative models such as the Range Rover Evoque compact SUV and Velar midsize SUV.

His reinvention of the Land Rover Defender into a modern, sophisticated version of the original rugged off-roader attracted new, wealthier customers to the brand. It cemented it as a leader in the large premium SUV segment.

A similarly successful overhaul of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport allowed JLR to concentrate on these three models in recent years, helping the company achieve record profitability before a cyberattack in September forced the company to shut down large parts of its operations, including production, for up to six weeks.

McGovern hoped to have the same impact on Jaguar with the production version of the Type 00 concept, which he said was “a copy of nothing” that linked Jaguar to its past as a low-volume luxury brand with iconic design.

Jaguar has axed its current lineup and will relaunch as an electric-only luxury brand with three new models starting with a high-performance sedan next year. A Jaguar media campaign to promote the rebranding last November attracted criticism for featuring androgynous models and dropping the brand’s iconic “leaper” big cat logo.

On November 15, P.B. Balaji, a Tata Motors veteran, succeeded Adrian Mardell, who retired, strengthening the Indian group’s grip on JLR.

The man who saved the company

In fact, JLR just fired the man who saved the company. Gerry McGovern’s designs transformed JLR from a money-losing automaker on the ropes that was dumped by Ford in 2008 into a growing company that expanded into new markets and posted a string of profits for a long time. The vehicles McGovern personally designed and the teams he led that created others made billions for JLR.

McGovern’s hits far outnumbered his misses. The current Land Rover Discovery was a rare misfire in a career that stretches to the early 1980s. He began his career at Chrysler in 1978 and joined the Austin Rover Group in 1982.

JLR’s first bona fide hit under McGovern was the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, a compact crossover that took Range Rover into new territory and set sales records for the brand. The next mold-breaker was the slick, low-slung Velar, a Range Rover designed more for the street.

The radical redesign of the current Range Rover, which is setting sales records for JLR, helped return the automaker to profitability after the pandemic. And it is just the latest in a hit parade of McGovern vehicles. From sports cars such as the mid-engine 1995 MG F to rugged all-terrain vehicles such as the current Land Rover Defender, McGovern was always one step ahead not only of his competition but of consumers. He had a knack for knowing what they would like before they did.

McGovern’s most recent design, the controversial Jaguar Type 00 concept car, attracted an inferno of criticism from traditional Jaguar customers and social media pundits. But since that debut a year ago, other automakers have taken note of the blunt, brutal, angular Type 00 and created cars that show (again) McGovern’s influence.

The Bentley EXP 15, for example, is a complete knockoff of McGovern’s Type 00. The long hood and low-slung silhouette of Mercedes’ Vision Iconic concept also shows the Type 00’s influence.

Clash of mentalities

So what could have caused his downfall? We reckon that McGovern’s outsized ego finally clashed with the conservative, quiet, publicity-avoidant upper management of India’s Tata Motors Group, now totally in charge of JLR.

McGovern could be extremely arrogant and spoke with a supreme confidence that left the listener with the impression that his views on design strategy were not open for negotiation. Because of his impressive career, McGovern could get away with this under the old guard at JLR.

But in a significant change in November, CEO Adrian Mardell retired and was replaced by P.B. Balaji, Tata Motors’ CFO since 2017. And that may have set up a culture clash that McGovern could not win. As with every outspoken leader, McGovern was loved by some, loathed by others.

One of the most successful designers

What is not in question is that he will go down in history as one of the auto industry’s most successful designers. And when it comes to the Jaguar reboot, McGovern has probably filed his last masterpiece. We will see the production-intent version of the Type 00, probably called the Jaguar GT, next year. The odds are that it will do precisely what JLR expects of it: attract a new, younger, wealthier, and more diverse customer base for the iconic brand.

That would be a pretty nice way to end a career. If the new generation of Jaguars succeeds, few will remember the classless way McGovern was removed from his job. Instead, he will be remembered and celebrated for his body of work… and for his flamboyant personality.