Jaguar Land Rover: Mardell remains CEO

Actually, he only took over the JLR business on an interim basis – now Adrian Mardell "remains" CEO of Jaguar Land Rover. At his side is Richard Molyneux as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mardell was appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer on November 16, 2022. Before that, he was CFO and a member of the JLR Board of Directors for three years. Molyneux was also appointed interim CFO on December 12, 2022. Prior to that, he served as Finance Director Operations for JLR for six years.

With Mardell and Molyneux, JLR relies on leaders from within their own ranks who have been on board for a very long time. Mardell commented:

"It has been a great honor to lead JLR for the past eight months, and I am proud to be appointed Chief Executive Officer of this fantastic company that has shaped me over the past 32 years. We have the right vision and the right people to execute our Reimagine strategy, and I am honored to lead JLR on the path ahead of us."

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Executive Chairman of Tata Sons, Tata Motors and JLR explained:

“I heartily congratulate Adrian Mardell and Richard Molyneux on their appointment as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of JLR, respectively. Adrian and Richard are an exceptional team with extensive automotive and leadership experience. I look forward to further collaboration with them to advance the transformation of JLR into a modern luxury company, which is already underway.”

What does this mean?

Surprise: The major change at the top of JLR did not materialize. Instead, the saddle on which Mardell was temporarily placed as CEO was firmly secured, and Molyneux was positioned alongside him. The advantage of the two: They have been with the company for an extremely long time and therefore are likely to know all too well where the problems and shortages are. Their disadvantage: Being with the company for a long time could also mean they might become somewhat “blind to business” issues. Either way: The much-needed transformation of JLR has been initiated, and now the two must see it through.