JLR has escorted long-standing design boss Gerry McGovern out of the building. Could this be the right time for Jaguar to Stop Being Weird and Start Being Good again?
If you felt a disturbance in the British automotive force this week, you weren’t imagining it. Gerry McGovern – the man who shaped the modern Range Rover empire and one of the most powerful design figures in the global car industry – has reportedly been fired from Jaguar Land Rover.
Multiple reports (Autocar, Top Gear, Financial Times) confirm that McGovern was removed suddenly, with some sources claiming he was escorted out of JLR headquarters in Gaydon. That alone tells you this wasn’t a polite reshuffle. This was decisive. Swift. Brutal. And historic.
For anyone who follows the industry, this moment is monumental. Because Gerry McGovern isn’t just another designer. He’s the architect of the Range Rover boom. He’s the man who built a design-led global luxury brand that now outsells Jaguar several times over. He’s also a figure who held more influence inside JLR than almost anyone not named Tata.
So the big question now is: what happens next? Let’s break it down.
A Quick Spin Through History: Callum vs McGovern
To understand the shockwaves, you need to understand the creative split at JLR over the past two decades.
Ian Callum
- Design Director, Jaguar (1999–2019)
- The quiet, dignified Scotsman with petrol in his veins.
- He designed the Aston Martin DB7 and Vanquish before reshaping Jaguar’s identity with cars like the XF, XJ and F-Type.
- Callum’s philosophy: elegance, proportion, purity, “cars for people who actually enjoy driving”.
Gerry McGovern
- Design Director, Land Rover (from 2004)
- Chief Creative Officer, JLR (since 2019)**
- Bold. Theatrical. Confident.
- Behind the Evoque, Velar, Range Rover Sport and the latest big Range Rover.
- McGovern’s philosophy: fashion-forward luxury, powerful forms, “aspirational modernism”.
Two titans. One company constantly pulled between the worlds of beautiful driver’s cars and glamorous SUVs for the global elite. And in the battle of market forces… SUVs won. In some years, Range Rover-branded models outsold Jaguar by more than 4 to 1.
That gave McGovern serious internal power. And influence.
The Defender Reboot: A Triumph… and a Betrayal
Credit where credit’s due: the new Defender is a massive commercial hit. In 2023 alone, globally, it sold over 110,000 units, making it Land Rover’s best-performing model. But the design? Well… traditionalists thought McGovern had turned a rugged farm tool into a North London family carrier.
The old Defender was built for mud, war zones, safaris and collapsing barns. The new one? Perfect for the school run in Chiswick. A brilliant SUV, yes. But a Defender? That’s an ongoing debate.
Discovery Lost Its Soul
The Discovery used to be quintessentially functional: boxy, tall, and slightly ungainly, but immensely useful. Ruggedly handsome. The fifth-generation model (2017-present) shifted to a softer, Range Rover-esque style. It became ‘pretty’… but less “Discovery”. Less distinctive. Less loved.
Sales reflected that decline: global Discovery sales fell from over 45,000 units in 2016 to fewer than 18,000 in 2022. The model lost its identity and ended up competing against its own stablemates.
Then Came the Jaguar Type 00 Concept
The infamous “Type 00” concept (officially shown in 2023) broke the internet. Some called it bold. Some called it visionary. Most simply exclaimed “What the hell is that?” Whatever your view, there was no denying that Jaguar’s electric reinvention was veering far away from its heritage.
Ratan Tata’s Passing Changed Everything
This is the political part of the story that matters. Ratan Tata – the respected patriarch of Tata Group and long-time Jaguar Land Rover champion – was a huge supporter of Gerry McGovern. He personally backed many of McGovern’s designs and protected his influence. Ratan Tata passed away in 2024.
In 2025, Tata Motors appointed PB Balaji as the new JLR CEO – a numbers-driven executive who has zero nostalgia for British cars. Balaji is laser-focused on profitability and operational discipline. It would be an obvious assumption that McGovern’s modus operandi did not align with this direction. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before the axe fell?
Jaguar’s Year-Long “Sabbatical”
Jaguar declared in 2021 that it would become fully electric from 2025, with an entirely new design direction and three brand-new EVs. They even paused several programmes. Apparently an all-new Jaguar XJ saloon with an EV drivetrain was fully developed and ready to go. But it got canned after Callum left.
Fast forward to today:
- No production EV revealed
- No prototype – apart from Type 00 which keeps popping up in various colours.
- No teaser of a final model
- Just a controversial rebrand
- And an increasingly confused audience
Meanwhile, global EV demand is cooling. Mercedes, Ford, GM, VW, even Tesla have slowed or scaled back EV rollouts.
Hybrids are booming again. In other words: Jaguar’s “all-EV future” suddenly looks risky. I could have told them this a year ago. In fact I did say this a year ago!
JLR’s Real Problem Isn’t Branding. It’s Reliability.
Let’s be honest. JLR does not suffer from a design problem. It suffers from a dependability problem. In the 2024 JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Land Rover ranked dead last. Jaguar was third from the bottom. Warranty costs remain high. Electronics remain fragile. Old reputations linger like a stubborn smell.
If Tata want a genuine turnaround, it won’t come from fonts, logos or philosophical manifestos. It starts with engineering that simply works. Engines that don’t self-annihilate. Electrics that don’t decide to freak out in a thunderstorm (especially as we tend to get quite a few of those here in Blighty!). IT systems that aren’t so easily hacked, crippling an entire industry for over five weeks.
This is where the reset must begin.
So… What Happens to Jaguar Now?
This might be the best opportunity Jaguar has had since the Ford era. Here’s the wish list I know Jaguar fans – and I – desperately want to see:
- A proper luxury driver’s saloon again
- A modern XJ with real presence
- A sports car that honours the E-Type, F-Type and F-Pace SVR spirit
- EVs where they make sense
- And keep the ICE options – enthusiasts want them
Jaguar just needs to be Jaguar. A brand built on grace, pace and space. A brand for people who want to drive, not just sit in a lounge on wheels. “It’s good to be bad,” remember? With McGovern gone, Tata might just chart a new course. Whether that course is brave or disastrous remains to be seen.
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