Jaguar Land Rover designer behind woke rebrand ‘escorted from office’

The designer behind Jaguar’s controversial “woke” rebrand has reportedly been dismissed from the carmaker just days after a new chief executive took over.

Gerry McGovern, who was formerly Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) chief creative officer, was told he was being dismissed with immediate effect on Monday.

He was then escorted out of the office, according to reports, although details of his exit remain unclear.

JLR, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, declined to comment.

The turmoil comes just days after PB Balaji, the former finance boss of Tata Motors, succeeded Adrian Mardell as chief executive of JLR.

It brings an abrupt end to Mr McGovern’s 21-year career at the carmaker, where he masterminded a revamp of Land Rover’s Defender model and the company’s line-up of Range Rovers.

He was also the main creative force behind last year’s radical rebrand of Jaguar that aimed to shift the marque away from its traditional “Jag Man” image towards ultra-wealthy customers.

A “Type 00” concept for the carmaker’s first electric model – unveiled at an international art show last December – was sleek, futuristic-looking and coloured in shades of bright pink and blue.

It invited unflattering comparisons to the FAB 1 car driven by Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds and Barbie’s screaming pink convertible.

An advert for the rebrand, featuring a cast of androgynous-looking models but no cars, was also criticised for being too “woke”, with Nigel Farage and Donald Trump among those who attacked the campaign.

The backlash was dismissed as “vile hatred and intolerance” at the time by Rawdon Glover, the managing director of the Jaguar brand.

“We need to re-establish our brand and at a completely different price point so we need to act differently,” he told the Financial Times.

But Mr Mardell, the JLR boss who oversaw the rebrand strategy, announced his retirement in August before leaving in November.

JLR has insisted Mr Mardell’s retirement was unrelated to the Jaguar rebrand.

However, Mr McGovern’s abrupt dismissal will prompt fresh questions about the future of Jaguar at a time of ongoing uncertainty for the brand.

Sales of new Jaguar cars were halted from November 2024 in preparation for the launch of an all-electric lineup.

That had originally been expected at the end of 2025 but has since been pushed back into 2026.

The first of the new electric Jaguars is expected to be a four-door grand tourer, not the Type 00 concept.

Mr Glover has repeatedly supported the rebrand.

He told US broadcaster ABC earlier this year: “We’re not looking for everybody to say, ‘That’s nice.’ I think great design does polarise, whether that’s in fashion or architecture or whatever else.

“So having the confidence to say this is what we think the 21st century Jaguar should look like and then sticking to that is very important.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]