Chief executive of carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, Thierry Bolloré, quits company with immediate effect citing ‘personal reasons’. Tony McDonough reports
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) chief executive Thierry Bolloré has left the businesses with immediate effect for “personal reasons”.
Mr Bolloré has been in the job for just over two years. He took over from Sir Ralf Speth in late 2020. Sir Ralf had been in the role for 10 years. Although Mr Bolloré’s tenure will formally end at the end of this year he will depart straight away.
Taking over from today as interim chief executive will be Adrian Mardell. He has been part of JLR for 32 years and a member of the executive board for three years.
JLR operates three car assembly plants in the UK. One at Halewood in Merseyside and two in the West Midlands. At Halewood it employs around 3,700 people at Halewood in Merseyside assembling the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque.
Mr Bolloré said: “I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together at Jaguar Land Rover over the last two years.
“The company’s transformation and acceleration towards a sustainable, profitable future as a modern luxury business is underway at great pace.
“I would like to thank the whole team for their dedication and passion and I wish the entire organisation the very best for the future.”
Mr Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, added: “I want to thank Thierry for everything he has done at Jaguar Land Rover. The foundations for a successful transformation have been laid, leaving the company well poised for the future.”
Earlier this month JLR reported a big improvement in sales for the three months to September – the second quarter of its fiscal year. It said revenue for the quarter hit £5.3bn. This was 36% higher than the same period in 2021.
Pre-tax loss was £173m but this is a big improvement on the £302m loss reported a year earlier. JLR said the improved margin reflects the production ramp up of new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models.