- Reports claimed McGovern was escorted out of HQ in December.
- JLR denies firing its design boss and calls the reports untrue.
- The company still hasn’t confirmed if McGovern is still employed.
The rumor mill at Jaguar Land Rover has been working harder this month than a Defender on a Camel Trophy tour. First came dramatic claims from that chief creative officer Gerry McGovern had been escorted from the building and had his contract terminated. Now JLR has stepped in to pour cold water on the whole thing.
According to new reports, JLR has denied the reports outright, stating it is untrue that McGovern’s employment has been terminated, though it hasn’t clarified whether he’s still employed.
The company declined to comment further on what it calls speculative stories which will disappoint fans hoping for a neat and tidy explanation about the fate of its influential design boss.
Related: Jaguar Rolls Out Its Future In A New Color Right After Firing The Man Behind It
And influential is no exaggeration. During his two decades with the company McGovern has shaped nearly every modern Land Rover and Range Rover that matters including the original Evoque, the futuristic Velar, the current Range Rover family and of course the reborn Defender.
Love or loathe the controversial Jaguar Type 00 concept and the brand’s recent rebrand, you can’t deny he has led JLR design through a period of huge technical and cultural change.
Change at the top
So how did we get here? Part of the reason the ‘fired’ rumor spread so quickly is timing. McGovern’s supposed exit came just days after long time chief executive Adrian Mardell retired and PB Balaji stepped in to take charge.
Balaji ran Tata Motors finance operations before moving to the top job at JLR and speculation naturally followed that he might want to start his tenure with a bold reshuffle.
Pair that with the internet negativity surrounding Jaguar’s new look and the pieces suddenly looked like they fit together. Except they do not. At least not according to the people in the PR department.
“Untrue”
“It is untrue we have terminated Gerry McGovern’s employment and we do not intend to further comment on speculative stories,” a spokesperson for JLR told Motor1.
But that’s not the same as staying he’s still in his role. Did he quit? His mugshot still appears on the “JLR people” page of the company’s website, suggesting he’s still there.
For now we assume McGovern remains in place and continues to oversee design for Jaguar Land Rover as the company plans a wave of new electric models and the next stage of its brand reset.
We’ve asked JLR to comment on the reports, and to confirm McGovern is still the company’s creative chief, and will update this story when we hear back.
