The luxury auto company is certainly well known for its high-end vehicles, but recently it’s grabbed attention for some other - less positive - things.
For one, a catastrophic cyber security incident led to significant downtime for the automaker earlier this year. Prior to that, it made international headlines when it was reported Jaguar would shut down production while it transitioned from ICE to EVs. Further disruption arose from an April decision by the UK manufacturer to cease shipments to the US over a several week period as JLR spent some time coming up with a tariff plan.
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But perhaps the biggest news for JLR was the late 2024 rebranding where the company promoted a “new era” for Jaguar.
As part of this, the company ditched the classic animal hood ornament for a “completely reimagined brand.” This came with a goal to be “truly unique and original” and the marketing focused on exuberant colors and a refreshed logo. What caused intense backlash is what the ad campaign didn’t feature – vehicles.
A month later Jaguar unveiled its Type 00 concept, a vehicle the company said was representative of its future. The design was a departure from the brand’s tradition – by design, of course – an approach that rubbed some the wrong way.
It’s possible that, one year later, we’re seeing the fallout from this design strategy.
Jaguar’s longtime design chief Gerry McGovern – and designer of the 00 – has reportedly been fired this past week.
McGovern is said to have been responsible for creative direction of all the company’s brands and played a “major role” in the recent revamp of Jaguar. His dismissal not only comes amid a trying time for the auto company, but also one of leadership change: PJ Balaji recently took over as CEO.
Perhaps the presence of new executive blood has influenced the shakeup, though it’s a challenging moment for it: Jaguar expects to unveil its new electric GT in 2026, a $130,000 electric coupe modeled after the 00.
McGovern is said to have been a driving force behind Jaguar’s attempt to produce pricier, more exclusive models that can compete with ultra-luxury brands such as Bentley.
It should be noted that McGovern spent more than two decades with the automaker and was responsible for many commercially successful models before the more recent rebrand.
JLR has yet to comment on the situation.
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