To say that jaguar‘s Type 00 concept, revealed exactly one year ago, was controversial would be the understatement of the century. The company was obviously desperate to reinvent itself for the electric age, which is no problem in itself.
How it chose to go about it is a different story. Suffice it to say that a lot of people were put off by the Type 00’s design, which looks like something a five-year-old would draw up in two minutes when asked to imagine a futuristic car, the new jaguar logo, and the ad campaign around its unveiling, which made the brand seem more concerned about scoring current political points than its future.
The first repercussions are now apparently happening, as a new report claims jaguar‘s design boss, Gerry McGovern, has been fired. He was in charge of the Type 00 and jaguar‘s design reinvention, and when things go as badly as they did in this situation, the person in charge usually has to pack their bags and find something else to do somewhere else.
And that is allegedly exactly what happened on Monday. Why jaguar owner jaguar Land Rover (JLR) waited one full year to do this is a good question that we don’t have the answer to. It might however be connected to JLR recently getting a new CEO, PB Balaji, who took the helm in November.
McGovern was reportedly terminated on Monday with immediate effect, ending his 21-year career at JLR where he did also oversee some huge design successes, most notably the recent reinvention of the Land Rover Defender. It’s unclear what happens to jaguar‘s electric future now. Whether the Type 00 will still eventually be turned into a production car remains to be seen. We’ll let you know when we find out more.
