Currently reading: Confirmed: Jaguar Land Rover boss Ralf Speth to step down

The 65-year-old will end his 10-year run as CEO of the British firm in September, but will maintain a non-executive advisory role

 

Jaguar Land Rover boss Ralf Speth will step down from his role as executive director and chief executive officer in September, the company has confirmed. 

A statement issued by Mr Chandrasekaran, chairman of parent company Tata Motors, confirmed that Speth “has agreed to maintain his relationship with Jaguar Land Rover by becoming non-executive vice chairman”.  He will also keep a place on the board of holding company Tata Sons. 

A search committee has been formed to look for Speth’s successor, Chandrasekaran revealed. He also praised the CEO for his “passion and commitment over the last 10 years”, turning JLR “from a niche UK-centric manufacturer to a respected, technological leading, global premium company”. 

Speth said in a statement: “I feel very honoured to have worked with so many dedicated and creative people, both inside and outside of Jaguar Land Rover. We have elevated Jaguar and Land Rover… we offer our customers multi-award-winning products and will continue to surprise with the best pipeline of new, innovative products we have ever had.” 

German-born engineer Speth has been in charge of Jaguar Land Rover since 2010, when Tata bought the company from Ford. During the past decade he has helped the firm to grow substantially, leading an expansion of its model range and a major push into new markets. The firm has opened production plants in China, the US and Slovakia, and widely expanded the company’s line-up, including ground-breaking models such as the electric Jaguar I-Pace.

But Jaguar Land Rover has struggled in recent years, with falling demand for diesel engines and a dip in sales in China leading to a series of major losses. That prompted the firm to launch a £2.5 billion cost-cutting drive, including a number of job losses, which helped the firm to return to profit last year.

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James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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Rival 30 January 2020

What JLR need is a leader who

What JLR need is a leader who will take ownership of issue, instead of ignoring them.

A leader who will understand the competition and what customers want from their cars.

Ralph wasn't that man. He was too caught up in winning pointless awards, instead of making actually good products 

Cobnapint 30 January 2020

But even after all that

There's still several things stopping me buying a JLR product - interior quality, engine capabilities/specs, and reliability issues.
Well done....
thesecretdriver 30 January 2020

Have I missed that news?

The article states that JLR has opened a production plant in the US. Have I missed something?

CharlieBrown 30 January 2020

thesecretdriver wrote:

thesecretdriver wrote:

The article states that JLR has opened a production plant in the US. Have I missed something?

Yes I saw that - real sloppy reporting there!

Bar room lawyer 30 January 2020

It is in Brazil

thesecretdriver wrote:

The article states that JLR has opened a production plant in the US. Have I missed something?

There is a factory in Italialia, Brazil. It is shown in the Corporate section of the website under Newsroom.

Bar room lawyer 30 January 2020

I should have included

Bar room lawyer wrote:
thesecretdriver wrote:

The article states that JLR has opened a production plant in the US. Have I missed something?

There is a factory in Italialia, Brazil. It is shown in the Corporate section of the website under Newsroom.

You need to enter the word "Italian" in the search box