To say things aren’t going well at Jaguar is an understatement; the brand seems to be on life support. And it’s never been more evident than this week, as we learn the company has fired the man who just designed the car meant to revive the brand, the Type 00 concept.
Gerry McGovern had been working at JLR since 2004
He was previously responsible for Lincoln’s revival
He’s credited with designing the Land Rover Evoque, among others
Criticism of the Type 00 was very harsh, even virulent, right after its unveiling. Enthusiasts reacted negatively, and one can imagine the feedback received by upper management was anything but encouraging.
So it’s Gerry McGovern, the company’s design director, who takes the fall.
At least that’s the conclusion we can draw after examining information shared by Autocar and Autocar India, which report the designer was escorted out of the company’s offices earlier this week.
This news comes less than a week after learning of the retirement of former Jaguar Land Rover chief, Adrian Mardell. He was replaced by BP Balaji, Tata Motors’ former CFO. According to reports circulating, the latter is looking to shake things up at Jaguar Land Rover following negative responses to the Type 00 concept.
Jaguar Reinvents itself With this Spectacular Type 00 concept
Before casting stones at Gerry McGovern, one must acknowledge his contributions to the company’s portfolio. He’s behind models like the Evoque, Velar, and Defender at Land Rover. Obviously, he’ll be remembered for leading the team that created the Type 00 concept.
He had been with the Jaguar Land Rover group since 2004.
As for Jaguar‘s future, it was supposed to involve a production model based on the Type 00 concept. Will the company redesign it to explore other avenues? What we know is that the future is supposed to be all-electric, but given current market trends, that remains to be seen.
One thing is sure: a severe course correction is needed. Otherwise, we may soon be speaking of this brand in the past tense.
