News of the abrupt departure of JLR chief creative officer Gerry McGovern elicits feelings of both shock and long expectation, depending which group of commentators you consult.

Reasons for the shock are clear enough: McGovern was given a huge amount of control over the “reimagination” of Jaguar when former CEO Thierry Bolloré arrived to give shape to a rescue plan at the back end of 2020. What’s shocking is that McGovern’s close connection with the first "reimagined" model should be summarily severed merely months from its much-heralded public debut.

The expectation faction’s arguments are also easy to follow. Apparently unbidden, McGovern assumed a remarkable degree of autocratic control over not only the new Jaguars’ designs but also over many aspects of car creation that designers don’t usually control: publicity, advertising, brand development, timing, public statements and much more. No one inside the business seemed to have the intestinal fortitude to take him on, but many of those involved began to assume that such a situation was bound to cause festering resentments - and to end with a bang. 

When PB Balaji, a new and deeply financially literate new CEO recently arrived at JLR from the very core of the parent company, Tata Group, many (not least the outspoken Indian financial press) believed his first mission would be to bring JLR (and McGovern) to heel. 

The conservative managers of Tata hadn’t much enjoyed the adventurous, bizarre and often disastrously adverse publicity that had surrounded the unveiling of the Jaguar Type 00 concept and the reshaping of a fine old brand that went with that. 

It can be safely assumed that McGovern’s departure results either from the designer’s own impatience with the new management’s attempts to bring him to heel or from the new regime losing patience with a talented maverick. It’s not yet clear which version is correct, but details are bound to emerge, and soon.

My own feeling is that it’s deeply disappointing not to see McGovern given the opportunity to see his first "reimagined" Jaguar through to its public debut - out of fascination for seeing how he would front a promising product. 

McGovern always instinctively provided what his marques needed: strong leadership and a feeling (for better or worse) of certainty about their direction of travel. 

It is hard to see, now that his talented former deputy, Massimo Fraschella, has joined Audi, who could step up to provide such strength of leadership in future. But it will be a crying shame if JLR attempts to manage such a high-design mission via some faceless committee or do it from the boardroom. I’m pretty sure Sir William Lyons wouldn’t have approved of that for an idea.