Former Renault CEO Thierry Bollore will lead Jaguar Land Rover as its new CEO from September 10.
He replaces Ralf Speth who announced his resignation in January following a decade-long stint in the top role. Speth isn't completely leaving the automaker as he is due to stay on as non-executive vice chairman.
Bollore, who has a financial background, was in charge of Renault until last October when he was let go following a shakeup resulting from the ouster of Carlos Ghosn at the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance. He was actually placed in charge of Renault following Ghosn's 2018 arrest in Japan. He's also had stints at Michelin and supplier Faurecia.
Thierry Bollore
In a statement released Tuesday, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of JLR and its parent company Tata Motors, said Bollore has a “wealth of experience” and a “proven track record of implementing complex transformations.”
That will prove handy as JLR moves to introduce a highly flexible platform spanning most of the automaker's lineup, starting with a redesigned XJ due later this year.
The automaker is also in the process of cutting costs as it deals with slowing sales, including in the key markets of the United States and China, and not only due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Even before the pandemic hit, JLR had announced 4,500 layoffs, or about 10% of its global workforce.
