Jaguar Land Rover’s CEO Adrian Mardell steps away from the role after more than 35 years with the Tata-owned company.
Mardell, who steered the company back into profitability during his nearly three years in charge, cites his desire to retire, a company spokesperson tells Reuters.
The 64-year-old did see the company hit its highest profit in a decade and rid itself of £5 billion ($6.6 billion) of debt during his tenure, while posting its strongest operational performance ever.
However, much of this success was driven by the global commercial success of JLR’s SUV products with both Land Rover Defender and luxury Range Rover vehicles selling well in all markets, while Jaguar-brand vehicles have languished in the showrooms.
Mardell had been instrumental in trying to reposition the struggling Jaguar brand, which ceased production late last year to concentrate on its transition into a luxury battery-electric vehicle maker with the unveiling of the Jaguar Type 00 Concept.
However, the project, first blighted by a marketing campaign that many brand fans blasted as being too “woke” with a focus on lifestyle and diversity rather than product, has now been delayed from a planned launch this year.
The automaker group reportedly is now delaying the introduction of Range Rover and Jaguar electric cars that had been planned to go on sale at the end of this year, with one source telling The Guardian production of the new Jaguar model will not begin before at least summer 2026.
The model, previewed in the outlandish Jaguar Type 00 Concept BEV, with what many viewed as impractical and with limited driver visibility given its 1930s aero styling, did little to allay fears that the brand is distancing itself from its core consumer.
Production of the Range Rover Velar's electric variant had been scheduled for production from April 2026 but now is also expected to be delayed.
Both Range Rover and Jaguar models also require more development time according to the British newspaper, an excuse some industry watchers find hard to justify considering the relative simplicity of BEV products compared to internal-combustion-engine vehicles and the amount of time the automaker has been working on the projects.
WardsAuto approached JLR for a comment and its response, while reiterating it will offer BEV versions of all its models by 2030, also infers that the vehicle platforms could be launched with alternative powertrains more likely to appeal to the current markets.
“Our plans and vehicle architectures are flexible so we can adapt to different market and client demands…We will launch our new models at the right time for our clients, our business and individual markets,” JLR says in a statement.
On top of this, recent headwinds from threats of 25% tariffs on U.K.-made vehicles saw JLR pause exports to the U.S. in April until the two nations signed a draft agreement on a blanket 10% U.K. tariff on cars capped at 100,000 units imported annually.
The U.S. is a key market for JLR’s high-margin SUV products and makes up nearly a quarter of the automaker’s global sales.
Mardell was among the guests at the opening of U.S. President Donald Trump's golf course in Scotland as part of a five-day visit to the U.K.
JLR has not yet named a replacement CEO for Mardell.
