Adrian Mardell, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has decided to retire and leave the automaker after 35 years at the firm.
A spokesperson confirmed the news to Autocar Professional India, and added, “His successor will be announced in due course”. It’s unclear right now whether the automaker’s new CEO will come from inside the company, another automaker or supplier, or from outside the industry altogether.
Mr Mardell became Jaguar Land Rover’s interim CEO at the end of 2022 after his predecessor Thierry Bollore quit suddenly “for personal reasons” after just two years in the job. Mr Mardell signed a three year contract in the middle of 2023.
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Prior to becoming CEO, he worked largely on the financial side, was deputy chief financial officer (CFO) from 2008 before later adding chief transformation officer to his responsibilities, and then becoming CFO in 2019.
During his relatively short time in charge, Mr Mardell trimmed the company’s net debt to around zero, and brought the British automaker back into the black, with the company making a £1.8 billion ($3.7 billion) profit in the year to March 2025.
The turnaround has come courtesy of strong sales from the Defender and Range Rover ranges, which have helped the firm achieve a strong profit margin of 8.5 per cent during the previous financial year.
After taking control of JLR, Mr Mardell continued his predecessor’s Reimagine plan to turn Jaguar into an Bentley-chasing EV-only brand, and introduce mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric drivetrains to Land Rover models.
In April 2023 he renamed the firm JLR, and split Land Rover into three new brands — Defender, Discovery and Range Rover — to sit alongside Jaguar.
Despite the automaker’s rosy-looking financials, there are storm clouds on the horizon. Tariffs, which have seemingly been rising and falling on a daily basis in the US, caused the manufacturer to pause shipments to one of its more important export markets.
While many countries are now slapped with a 25 per cent or higher tariff, there’s now an agreement with the UK, which sees the first 100,000 cars per year from Britain taxed at just 10 per cent. A deal with the EU for a 10 per cent tariff is nearly complete, which will come as a relief to JLR as the Defender is produced in Slovakia.
On top of this, Jaguar’s new brand identity and design direction, as previewed by the Type 00 concept, has garnered plenty of attention and caused much gnashing of teeth on the internet. With three production cars set to launch from 2026, it remains to be seen whether the marque’s relaunch will be successful, both critically and financially.
Mr Mardell’s upcoming departure is the latest in a series of leadership upheavals in the automotive industry this year. In March, Volvo hired its former CEO Håkan Samuelsson to lead it once again, and in May, Stellantis ended its long search for a leader by promoting quality boss Antonio Filosa to the top job.
More dramatically, in June, Renault CEO Luca de Meo quit to head up the luxury conglomerate behind Gucci. His replacement, procurement chief François Provost, was only confirmed a few days ago.
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