Thierry Bollore quits JLR, Adrian Mardell to take over as interim CEO

Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer Thierry Bolloré has resigned as the Chief Executive Officer of the company “for personal reasons,” Tata Motors said in a stock exchange notification. He will be leaving on December 31, 2022, it said.

Adrian Mardell, who has been part of JLR for 32 years and a member of the Executive Board for three years, will be taking over as interim CEO effective today, the company said.

Bollore’s sudden resignation after a short, two-year stint comes at a time when the UK subsidiary is in the midst of battling various headwinds including a semiconductor shortage. The shortage has crippled production at the firm even as the order book remains strong.

“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,” Bolloré said in the statement.

His most important strategic decision at JLR was crafting the “Re-imagine Strategy” which included a plan to accelerate the electrification journey at the UK based firm.

As part of the plan JLR had said in September 2021 that it would invest about 2.5 billion pounds ($3.5 billion) a year into electrification and related technologies. The Land Rover line will get its first fully electric model in 2024, and by the following year, all Jaguar models will be entirely powered by batteries, Bollore had announced in February 2021.

“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,” N.Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover said in the statement.

Tata Motors had appointed Thierry Bollore for the top job after a search that spanned for almost six months. He came from Renault Group where he was the CEO till October 2019. He joined JLR on September 10, 2020. He took over from Ralf Speth who was at the helm for a decade. The Tata group flagship chose the Frenchman over a few internal candidates who were also in the fray for the job.