Thierry Bolloré will step down from Jaguar Land Rover after just two years in the role and a run of losses at the Tata-owned luxury car maker.
Bolloré, the former Renault boss who joined in September 2020, will leave “for personal reasons” at the end of the year, Tata Motors said on Wednesday.
JLR has notched up pre-tax losses for the past six consecutive quarters, at a time when arch rivals including Mercedes-Benz and Porsche were recording record profits.
The company blamed the global shortage of semiconductors, leading to factory outages and production delays when it posted last week a £178mn loss for July to September on sales of £5.3bn. In the same three months, Mercedes posted a profit of €4bn on €38bn of revenue.
JLR chief financial officer officer Adrian Mardell, who takes over as chief executive for the time being, said last week that the company was “behind the clock” on dealing with the chip problem. He said JLR was “working tirelessly” to resolve its supply problems.
It has also started prioritising parts for its new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, which are newer models and will help the business’s profitability, he added.
“All other [carmakers] have been doing that over the last 12 months, we’ve been in project changeover over the last 12 months,” he said.
A search for a full-time replacement for Bolloré has already begun and is being run by Tata in India, according to two people.
Bolloré rose within the ranks of Renault under Carlos Ghosn before becoming chief executive of the French group. He was ousted in 2019.
He joined JLR when it was behind rivals on electric vehicles, and set the company’s strategy to push into battery models and move further upmarket early last year.
Since then, the company has made few public announcements on its progress, and is yet to name a long-term battery partner for its electric vehicles.
Part of the delay has come from owner Tata, which is involved with the battery sourcing decision and has been in talks with Britishvolt, the UK start-up that requires rescue funding, according to three people.
“I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together at Jaguar Land Rover over the last two years,” Bolloré said on Wednesday.
“The company’s transformation and acceleration towards a sustainable, profitable future as a modern luxury business is underway at great pace.”
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chair of Tata Sons, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, thanked Bolloré. “The foundations for a successful transformation have been laid, leaving the company well poised for the future,” he said.
