• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

Jaguar Land Rover’s creative chief, who was behind the Jaguar brand’s controversial rebranding a year ago, has reportedly been relieved of his duties. 

Gerry McGovern, 69, was escorted out of the company offices, according to a report by Autocar India, which quotes anonymous sources.

The company’s website still lists McGovern as a member of the executive team. A U.S.-based Jaguar Land Rover spokesperson reached by Marketing Daily on Thursday afternoon declined to comment. 

McGovern's alleged dismissal comes just a week after new CEO PB Balaji, formerly finance boss of Tata Motors, took over from the retiring Adrian Mardell.

“McGovern was considered a hugely influential figure on JLR’s board and was a favorite of the late Ratan Tata, former chairman of the wider Tata Group,” according to Campaign. “It brings to an end a 21-year career at JLR for McGovern that has been filled with highlights.”

The automaker sent mouths flapping a little over a year ago when it launched a new brand identity that includes a new logo, wordmark, typeface and color palette for Jaguar along with the tagline “Copy Nothing.”  The introductory video remains on the Jaguar YouTube page. 

McGovern clearly had internal support. In an interview with the Financial Times shortly after the campaign launch, Jaguar Managing Director Rawdon Glover said the campaign's intended message was lost "in a blaze of intolerance" and that the controversial promotional video was not meant to be a "woke" statement, as some critics have argued.

At the time, McGovern called the new branding “exuberant modernism” that “is imaginative, bold and artistic at every touchpoint. It is unique and fearless.”

The company’s website says that McGovern “is responsible for the creative direction and curation of the house of brands – Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar – fundamental to the company’s vision to become the creators of the world’s most desirable automotive brands for the most discerning of clients.

“McGovern has a wealth of design experience, from his early days as an industrial design student, through the Royal College of Art, to some of the biggest creative organisations in the world, during an international career spanning over 40 years. Throughout his career, Gerry has lived by the principle that creativity has the ability to transform business while enriching people’s lives.”