It’s (now) official: Gerry McGovern to leave JLR role at end of March
Gerry McGovern has announced he will step down as chief creative officer – and as a member of the Jaguar Land Rover Board – at the end of this month (March 2026) to establish his own creative consultancy
The confirmation comes nearly four months after the widely reported news – including CDN’s December 2025 story – that he had been escorted from the building and not returned since, at least in an official design capacity. At the time JLR’s press office issued this limited statement: “It is untrue that we have terminated Gerry McGovern's employment and we do not intend to further comment on speculative stories.”
This official line was repeated as late as March 3rd, but on requesting an update after an insider tip-off today (March 20th) the story changed, with official statements by both McGovern and JLR’s CEO. “It has been a great privilege to work at JLR across two extraordinary decades, and I would like to thank the Tata family in particular, for the opportunities they gave me,” said Gerry McGovern. “The dedication and passion of thousands of people across the business have made these brands what they are today, and I am enormously proud of what we have built together. I look forward to the next chapter of my creative career.”
JLR’s CEO, PB Balaji added: “Gerry’s creative leadership, vision, drive and passion have left an indelible stamp on our brands. I would like to thank Gerry for the significant contribution he has made to
JLR and wish him every success in his next creative chapter.”
McGovern’s departure marks the end of more than two decades in his current stint at Land Rover which started in 2004. Since that time he’s masterminded the top-selling 2011 Range Rover Evoque, 2012 Range Rover Mk4, 2013 Range Rover Sport Mk2, 2017 Velar, 2019 new Defender, 2022 Range Rover Mk5 and the highly controversial rebrand of Jaguar with the Type 00 concept launched in December 2024. He also worked for the brand in the 1980s and ’90s when part of the Rover Group, most famously designing the successful 1997 Land Rover Freelander.
McGovern – who turns 70 this September – studied Industrial Design at Coventry University and Automotive Design at the Royal College of Art in London and has had an international career spanning more than 40 years. Never far from controversy in both his public statements and alleged tough approach with some colleagues, this moment will come as little surprise to many, but his positive influence on British and indeed global car design cannot be denied. His designs have been multi-award-winning, including a hot streak of peer-reviewed CDN Production Car Design of the Year accolades for the Range Rover Velar (2017), Land Rover Defender (2019) and Range Rover Mk5 (2021).
But perhaps his designs are easier to admire than he is to work with (although this journalist has always found him an entertaining and engaging interviewee as long as you talk about chairs and architecture as well as cars – which I was always more than happy to do). As McGovern acknowledged in his 2015 Car Design Review yearbook profile, when acting as an awards judge himself: “There are a lot of people who think I’m the anti-Christ but the thing I’d turn around and say is I’ve never been responsible for a car that hasn’t made money. Ultimately, who’s the judge of good design? It’ll be the consumer and the success of the product.”
At the time of writing Car Design News has not officially received news of who will take over JLR’s design operation from April 1st, but received this reply: “In the interim, Chris Thorp, chief of staff and corporate affairs officer, will extend his role to provide ongoing Executive Committee leadership to JLR's Creative chapter.”
Look out for more on this story at CDN in the coming days and months.
