Ex-Renault CEO Thierry Bolloré has been announced as the new CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, replacing Sir Ralf Speth.
The Frenchman will assume his new role on 10 September, following his dismissal from Groupe Renault’s board of directors in October last year.
Reports at the time suggested Renault was aiming to distance itself from disgraced former chief Carlos Ghosn and that Bolloré had a difficult relationship with bosses at partner brand Nissan.
The appointment was announced by Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of JLR parent company Tata, who said: "I'm delighted to welcome Thierry to 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."
Speth, who recently announced his departure from the CEO role after 10 years at the helm, will assume the role of non-executive vice chairman of JLR.
Bolloré brings more than 30 years of experience to his new position, having previously held management roles at tyre manufacturer Michelin and parts manufacturer Faurecia before joining the board at Groupe Renault in September 2012. He was named CEO on 24 January 2019 but served for only 10 months before being ousted in a surprise management shake-up.
During his brief tenure, he was keen to explore the possibility of a partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, telling Autocar: "We need scale". Talks broke down in June 2019, however, with the French government unwilling to dilute its share in Renault and Nissan accused of obstructing talks.
Commenting on the news, Bolloré said: "Jaguar Land Rover is known around the world for its peerless brand heritage, exquisite design and deep engineering integrity. It will be my privilege to lead this fantastic company through what continues to be the most testing time of our generation.
"Renowned for their passion and spirit, the people of Jaguar Land Rover are the driving force behind its success. I couldn’t be more excited to join the team continuing to shape the future of this iconic company."
Read more
Jaguar Land Rover boss Ralf Speth to step down
Renault board removes Thierry Bollore as CEO
Join the debate
Add your comment
India
May think a French technocrat is the right successor, i doubt it. Will be hard for him to lead and inspire the company.
JLR certainly need a shake up
or they are going down the pan. Jaguar have been on a downer since about 2014 and LR can't keep producing boring cloned vehicles with poor reliability and non-competitive tech and drivetrains.
Unfortunately, I don't think this guy will have the experience for it, but I agree McGovern needs to go first to prevent more boring boxes with rounded corners and almost, but not quite flush glass.
He's not a premium car guy is he?
Bollore is not a premium car guy, so what can he bring to the party? They should have gone for the ex BMW guy, Klaus Fröhlich who knows how to make a premium marque sucessful. Bollore only knows how a mass market manufacture works. Or are we all missing the point here & they are only bringing him him because he's an hatchet man to slim down JLR?
jagdavey wrote:
All the other candidates must have turned down Tata - I think he's just a proxy for Speth to stay in power after his forced retirement at 65
I suppose after years of
I suppose after years of trying to learn the German language, all the JLR staff will now be signing-up for French language night-classes . . . . as all the German Directors, and Heads of Departments, are inevitably replaced by Frenchmen !!