The designer behind Jaguar Land Rover’s woke rebrand, which was blasted by Nigel Farage, has reportedly been dismissed. It is understood that Gerry McGovern, the former Chief Creative Officer of Jaguar Land Rover, was dismissed with immediate effect on Monday.
According to the latest reports from Autocar India, Gerry was then “escorted out of the office”. The decision comes just a week after PB Balaji took over as CEO of the company, following the exit of Adrian Mardell.
Gerry had worked for JLR for 21 years and worked on the Defender and Range Rover projects before his reinvention of Jaguar as an electric-only brand in recent years. Gerry would have also helped to oversee Jaguar’s “Copy Nothing” brand campaign, which was criticised by customers and slammed as being “woke”.
Last year, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage blasted the new layout, posting on social media: “Even Gen Z hate the new ‘woke’ Jaguar! Mark my words, Jaguar will go bust.” He was also one of those responsible for designing the highly controversial Type 00 Concept model, which was revealed last December.
The model was slammed by customers as “boring” with many urging the British carmaker to go back to the drawing board. Instead of the stylish sports cars Jaguars had become synonymous with since the days of Sir William Lyons, the Type 00 was called out for being unfinished and boxy.
The car was accused of having an unconventional look, which was a loss of brand identity for the historic marquee. The Type 00 model is a concept car and will not go into production for sale to the public, but was understood to act as a preview of what’s to come under the new rebrand.
At the launch of the Type 00, Gerry said: “Type 00 is a pure expression of Jaguar’s new creative philosophy. It has an unmistakable presence. This is the result of brave, unconstrained creative thinking and unwavering determination.
“It is our first physical manifestation and the foundation stone for a new family of Jaguars that will look unlike anything you’ve ever seen. A vision which strives for the highest level of artistic endeavour.”
Jaguar declined to comment for this story.