Renault CEO Thierry Bollore is stepping down. File picture: Joel Saget / AFP via Getty Images and JLR Media.
Mumbai, India - Jaguar Land Rover boss Thierry Bollore will resign at the end of the year for "personal reasons", the company announced on Wednesday, ending the automotive industry veteran's struggles to return Britain's biggest carmaker to profitability.
Bollore, who previously led Renault, took charge of JLR in September 2020 and was tasked with turning around the fortunes of the pandemic-hit luxury carmaker.
Last year Bollore announced plans to turn Jaguar into an all-electric car brand by 2025, as a part of his ambitious "Reimagine" strategy.
But semiconductor chip shortages, volatile commodity prices and Covid lockdowns have continued to plague the carmaker, resulting in yearly losses since 2019.
Easing supply chain bottlenecks and improved production of new Range Rover models drove revenues 36 percent higher in the September quarter, but JLR still posted a loss of £173 million (R3.6 billion).
"I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together at Jaguar Land Rover over the last two years," Bollore said in a statement.
"The company's transformation and acceleration towards a sustainable, profitable future as a modern luxury business is underway at great pace."
In a disclosure to Indian stock exchanges, Tata Motors - JLR's parent company - said Adrian Mardell had been appointed interim chief executive with immediate effect.
Tata Motors chair N. Chandrasekaran thanked Bollore, adding that the "foundations for a successful transformation have been laid, leaving the company well poised for the future".
Shares in Tata Motors closed 1.29 percent lower in Mumbai ahead of the leadership announcement.
Agence France-Presse
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