Jaguar Land Rover Names Former Renault Boss Thierry Bolloré As New CEO

Jaguar Land Rover has announced Thierry Bolloré as the carmaker’s new Chief Executive Officer, starting from September 10.

Thierry Bolloré previously served Renault as CEO but was removed from the French carmaker last October as the company was looking to make a new start following the Ghosn scandal. Bolloré was considered to be one of Ghosn’s closest allies and that didn’t sit well with Alliance partner Nissan.

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Bolloré will replace Ralf Speth, who steered the company for more than 10 years and will take up the position of Non-Executive Vice Chairman of Jaguar Land Rover.

“Jaguar Land Rover is known around the world for its peerless brand heritage, exquisite design, and deep engineering integrity,” said Thierry Bolloré. “It will be my privilege to lead this fantastic company through what continues to be the most testing time of our generation.”

Jaguar Land Rover’s new boss will take over at a time of crisis, as the carmaker is dealing with the financial blow from the Covid-19 pandemic and has to quickly electrify its model lineup.

“I am delighted to welcome Thierry to Jaguar Land Rover,” said Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover. “An established global business leader with a proven track record of implementing complex transformations, Thierry will bring a wealth of experience to one of the most revered positions in the industry.”

Jaguar Land Rover, which sold 557,706 vehicles around the globe in 2019, is reportedly pushing back the launch of key models, including the next-generation Jaguar XJ EV, in a bid to focus on more profitable models instead.