Letter from the Editor - JLR Fires Gerry McGovern: What’s Next for Jaguar?

Does the departure of JLR Chief Creative Officer, Gerry McGovern, mean more turmoil for Jaguar, or is there light at the end of the tunnel? It’s safe to say that Jaguar’s brand strategy of late left most automotive commentators and brand loyalists not just shaking their heads but almost scratching their eyes out! The styling of the pink Type 00 raised plenty of eyebrows, but what was even more questionable was the brand’s decision to abandon – shun even – its storied history.

Jaguar even went so far as to delete all the previous posts on its Instagram account. Starting afresh is one thing, but disowning a heritage as great as Jaguar’s was a decision that was equal parts bold and equal parts downright stupid!

It's easy to sit on the sidelines and criticise, of course, but JLR had to do something drastic since nothing seemed to have worked. They brought out a modern-day interpretation of the legendary E-Type sports car in the shape of the svelte and hugely desirable F-Type – and while it did see some success, it didn’t quite have the impact that it ought to have done.

In my opinion, after the Aston Martin DB7, it was then Jaguar lead designer and design legend Ian Callum’s best work. That’s to say nothing of the XJ, XF and XE sedans, which were the best driving cars out there. I would even go so far as to say that Jaguar had even displaced BMW as the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine.’ And that’s to say nothing of Ian Callum’s magical penmanship once more, but still no one reached for their chequebooks. They even introduced a range of SUVs that shared their underpinnings with Land Rover – but, again, the market didn’t budge.

And while I could never quite figure out why, it became far clearer once I asked myself a pair of simple questions. Did I want a new Jaguar? Absolutely, with all my heart. But would I buy one? And the answer to that fateful question, I’m afraid, was NO.

You see, since the days of British Leyland, Jaguar had developed a reputation for unreliability, and it’s one that they could never shed – especially in the world’s most important car market, the US. Sadly, some of those quality niggles remained well into the modern day, so that reputation wasn’t entirely unfounded, but it was a little unfair all the same. Jaguar made enormous strides in terms of design, engineering and quality – just not enough to turn the tables on public perception.

And then came Gerry – high on the success of not just resurrecting the Land Rover and Range Rover brands but repositioning them entirely. It’s safe to say that the current Range Rover isn’t just one of the most capable cars on the planet, but also one of the most desirable and highly sought-after. So, who better than him to finally rescue a failing Jaguar?

Sadly, he chose to bury the leaping cat and forge an entirely new identity that no one could relate to. The brand also decided to dive headfirst into the luxury EV pond – you wouldn’t blame them necessarily. After all, it took just one look at the Tesla stock chart to see that it wasn’t BMW that you wanted to emulate, it was Elon Musk.

But the bottom appears to have fallen out of the luxury EV market, so much so that even Porsche has just reported a billion-dollar loss. Gerry put all his chips on red – or pink, I should say – and it came up black, at least on this bet. But it would be unfair if he were to be remembered not for his massive successes at Land Rover but for the biblical downfall of Jaguar.

But now that he’s been shown the door just days after PB Balaji took the reins, can Jaguar finally script a sustainable turnaround? Frankly, it looks more complex than ever, but Jaguar has always revelled in being the underdog. Now that Jaguar has decided to embrace its heritage once again, here’s hoping they can finally script a comeback for the leaping cat.