Jaguar Land Rovers has named Thierry Bolloré as its new chief executive, betting that the former Renault boss can steer Britain’s biggest carmaker through a pandemic that has ravaged the industry.
Mr Bolloré, who will join in September, replaces Ralf Speth, who had led the group for more than a decade and will remain with it as non-executive chairman.
As well as the coronavirus crisis, the new French chief executive faces a litany of internal company problems including poor build quality, a slow rollout of electric technology and an overlapping line-up of vehicles.
The company, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, lost £500m in the three months to March, and is expected to announce its latest results this week. It is cutting more than 1,000 jobs and is seeking extra cost savings of £1bn as it confronts the collapse in sales brought about by the pandemic.
However, the struggling carmaker was already in the process of cutting £4bn of costs before the crisis hit the industry earlier this year.
Mr Bolloré, an auto industry veteran who was a longtime lieutenant of Carlos Ghosn, was ousted from Renault less than a year ago as the French carmaker sought “a breath of fresh air” following the arrest of former boss Mr Ghosn in Japan.
Mr Bolloré described his sudden departure from Renault as a “coup” in the French media.
Tata Motors chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said on Tuesday that Mr Bolloré brought a “wealth of experience” to the role, including “a proven record of implementing complex transformations”.
He joined Renault in 2012, serving under Mr Ghosn, whose nickname was “le cost cutter” for his iron discipline. He rose to become the French carmaker’s operations boss, and eventually its chief executive in early 2019. He left the company in October.
Following his appointment to JLR, Mr Bolloré said: “It will be my privilege to lead this fantastic company through what continues to be the most testing time of our generation.”
His selection ends a lengthy search in which several high-profile candidates were shortlisted for the role, including former Audi chief executive Bram Schot, and JLR’s engineering head Nick Rogers.
Mr Bolloré will inherit a business that is shrinking in an industry dominated by giants.
While JLR has arrangements to share some technology with BMW, the group lacks a larger partner to help bear the costs of investing in new electric driving systems needed to meet European and Chinese emissions rules.
The business, which sold just over 500,000 vehicles in the 12 months to March, is dwarfed by direct competitors BMW and Daimler, which both sold more than 2m models.
The company also faces an overlapping portfolio that leaves many of its Land Rover vehicles competing directly with Jaguar models, as well as a collapse in sales of its flagship sedans. Analysts expect the company to narrow its line-up in a bid to protect sales and increase profits.
JLR only has one electric model, the Jaguar I-Pace, and instead has ploughed resources into resurrecting its iconic off-roader, the Land Rover Defender.
Renault sells more electric vehicles than any other brand in Europe, principally with the Zoe model.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2M5NDAzNDRlLTU0OTctNGUzMS1iYmYxLWZkODc2ZjY5YWY1N9IBP2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2M5NDAzNDRlLTU0OTctNGUzMS1iYmYxLWZkODc2ZjY5YWY1Nw?oc=5
2020-07-28 09:28:00Z
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