Adrian Mardell, the CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, has announced he will be stepping down from his position as he intends to retire.
Mardell, who became the CEO of Jaguar Land Rover in November 2022, has been with the brand for 35 years in a range of financial positions.
A spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover told Autocar that the brand would announce a successor to Mardell "in due course".
Mardell has helped the brand see massive profits after heavy losses in the last few years.
JLR
|Adrian Mardell announced he would be stepping down as CEO of Jaguar Land Rover
The spokesperson added: "Adrian Mardell has expressed his desire to retire from JLR after three years as CEO and 35 years with the company."
Mardell oversaw one of the biggest brand overhauls in automotive history when revealing the Jaguar Type 00 concept car as the brand moves to only selling electric vehicles.
As Jaguar looked to embrace modernity and ditch its classic roots, the manufacturer was met with strong backlash, including claims that it had "gone woke".
Many were critical of the rebrand, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who criticised the automaker for not featuring any vehicles in the initial launch advert.
PA
|Adrian Mardell became CEO of JLR in November 2022
Jaguar is expected to begin production of the Type 00 electric vehicle in August next year after JLR was forced to delay plans.
Drivers who ordered the new Range Rover Electric have received notice from the marque that deliveries of the vehicles will not start until next year.
Under original plans, the electric models would have started shipping in late 2025, with reports suggesting that JLR's rollout of new electric vehicles would be pushed back further.
While Mardell oversaw a period of stability and economic success, President Donald Trump's tariffs on new vehicles had a large impact on the brand's US sales.
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Jaguar Land Rover announced the overhaul of the Jaguar brand last November
Quarterly sales of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles fell by more than 10 per cent, with wholesale volumes falling from 97,755 units in the same period last year.
North America saw the greatest decline with sales dropping 12.2 per cent, particularly damaging given the region accounts for one-third of JLR's total sales.
Professor David Bailey from the University of Birmingham Business School told the BBC that it was a "surprise" that Mardell had stepped down, especially given his financial success.
While Mardell had managed to turn the company's financial outlook around, Jaguar Land Rover did recently announce 500 job cuts across the UK.
JAGUAR
|Jaguar loyalists have accused the brand of going 'woke' and replacing tradition
Through a voluntary redundancy scheme, the manufacturer will be cutting 500 managerial jobs, although it will not exceed 1.5 per cent of its British workforce.
A spokesperson for JLR told GB News: "As part of normal business practice, we regularly offer eligible employees the opportunity to leave JLR through limited voluntary redundancy programmes.
"JLR regularly offers eligible employees voluntary redundancy programmes. Through this limited UK VR programme for managers, JLR is aligning its leadership workforce for the business’s current and future needs.
"We are grateful to the Government for delivering at speed the new UK-US trade deal, which gives us the confidence to invest £3.5billion per annum to realise our strategy which is delivering."