Ex-Jaguar design boss blames Trump, Musk and ‘Woke’ discussion for rocky brand relaunch

Jaguar’s controversial relaunch got off to a rocky start with a widely derided advertising campaign, but the British brand's former design boss Gerry McGovern has defended the direction the brand took.

“With that film, it got taken out of context,” Mr McGovern told Autocar’s My Week in Cars podcast, in which he also dismissed rumours he had been sacked by JLR and said he wished the company the best.

“What we were saying is, we want Jaguar to be a copy of nothing. That’s why you saw all these people who look like a copy of nothing. And then that was related to other, different types of communication that nobody got to see.

“I think that where it slipped up was it got into a debate about the bigger, cultural debate around behaviours, culture in America, Musk opening platform X – say what you like – Trump saying what he likes et cetera, and being anti-cultural.

“I didn’t even know what woke-ism meant at the time. It got stuck into that argument, and you even had Trump [weighing in].”

Jaguar’s initial Copy Nothing advertisement in November 2024 featured models of different genders, ethnicities and ages, all wearing brightly coloured outfits and some with unusual haircuts or makeup, set against a brightly coloured backdrop.

However, there wasn’t a car to be seen. Just a day or so later, Jaguar teased its Type 00 concept, before pulling the wraps off in December.

Nine months after the initial advertisement, US President Donald Trump called the ad a “disaster” and a “stupid, and seriously WOKE advertisement” on his social media platform Truth Social.

“The CEO [Adrian Mardell] just resigned in disgrace, and the company is in absolute turmoil,” his post read. “Who wants to buy a Jaguar after looking at that disgraceful ad.”

Mr McGovern, who was officially confirmed to have left JLR early this year, said that once detractors saw the car, the “sentiment started to change, it was less aggressive”.

“When I look back on it, I think it is slightly amusing – though it didn’t feel it at the time,” he told the podcast.

“For four months, Jaguar was the most talked-about brand in the world, for four months – it hadn’t been talked about for years at that point, so on the basis of that you’d say it was a massive success.”

However, the initial backlash forced JLR to revise its communication plans.

“We realised from a comms perspective, this is being misinterpreted, so we had to make adjustments,” said Mr McGovern.

“I’m sure when these Jaguars come out, they’re going to be fabulous, they drive brilliantly – that’s what’ll do the talking. When you look back, it’ll be a great one for the history books.”

He also defended the unusual colour choice of the initial Type 00 concept – a pastel pink, a marked departure from a brand perhaps best identified by deep, rich greens.

“When we showed the car in pink, that was another one. ‘Oh of course it’s woke, look at it, it’s pink’,” he recounted.

“The reason we did it in pink, I said, ‘We’re going to Miami, boys and girls, think Miami, think Floridian flamingoes, think Art Deco, pastel colours, pastel pink, pastel blue’.”

Jaguar is undergoing an almost total reinvention.

Former JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré had cancelled a replacement for the old XJ limousine – complete with an available electric powertrain – early in 2021.

Mr Bolloré announced the new XJ had been cancelled as it was “not fitting” with his new vision for the Jaguar brand, which was also announced in 2021 to be transitioning to a more exclusive market positioning – and going electric-only in the process.

The JLR boss subsequently left the company late in 2022, and his successor Adrian Mardell confirmed Jaguar was undergoing a “complete reset” that would see it retain only around 10-15 per cent of its existing customer base. Mr Mardell subsequently announced his retirement in 2025, and was replaced that November by PB Balaji.

Jaguar progressively ended production of all of its existing models between 2024 and 2025, with the production version of the Type 00, now rechristened Type 01, to be the first of a new, smaller range of more expensive vehicles. It’ll be revealed on October 6, 2026.

“People don’t realise that Jaguar had to be reinvented. Without going into the detail, Jaguar financially was a failure and anybody will admit that. Jaguar had been great in its heyday, no doubt about that, and I’m not blaming anybody for that, but it got into a position where nobody was buying Jaguars,” said Mr McGovern.

“It was losing money hand over fist for many years.

“So all the people who are saying this isn’t a Jaguar or whatever, where were they, why weren’t they buying these Jaguars they love so much?

“We needed a complete reimagining of the brand and the product.”

Ian Callum, who was Jaguar's design boss until 2019, told the same podcast late in 2025 that prior to this reinvention being locked in, Jaguar was working on not only a new XJ, but also a new SUV to replace the F-Pace and I-Pace, plus a new flagship SUV, and a new sports car.

On another controversial new EV, the Ferrari Luce, Mr McGovern told the podcast hosts: “You never comment on a design until you’ve seen it in the flesh.

“It might sound like a copout, but it’s true.”

He argued the controversy over both the Type 00 concept and the Luce is ultimately a blessing for both brands.

“Isn’t it great that so many people are talking about Jaguar and Ferrari? Doesn’t it demonstrate how much passion there is for great automotive brands?”

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