• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

It’s officially official: Jaguar Land Rover Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern is leaving the automaker. 

It was widely reported in December that McGovern had been shown the door, per Marketing Daily. But company officials declined to comment and McGovern’s bio remained on the automaker’s media webpage. 

Some three months later, JLR employees were told on March 20 that McGovern is leaving to establish his own creative consultancy, according to Autocar, which was among those reporting the news in December. 

“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,” McGovern said in the internal memo. ““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.”

The long-time design boss has had an illustrative career.

“McGovern started his career at the Austin Rover Group before a stint with Ford,” according to Motor 1. “He then worked at Jaguar and Land Rover for over 21 years, during which he was responsible for models such as the Land Rover Defender and the Range Rover Evoque. He also led the design team for the Type 00 concept, which has been highly controversial.” 

That included a new logo for Jaguar and a marketing campaign featuring a new brand identity with the theme "Copy Nothing," reports Marketing Daily. The effort was awarded "Best Electric Campaign" by MediaPost last March. 

In 2025, JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré was replaced by CEO PB Balaji, who elected to make several management changes, including — reportedly — McGovern. 

“The design chief was allegedly walked out of the company’s headquarters, according to multiple reports,” notes TheTruthAboutCars.com. “However, several days went by and there was … silence. Nearly two weeks later, officials at the luxury automotive company decided to address the issue. They denied firing McGovern. However, they also declined to confirm if he still worked for the company. And now four months later, everyone’s … cordial.”

“Gerry’s creative leadership, vision, drive and passion have left an indelible stamp on our brands,” Balaji said in the statement. “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.”