Opinion: does JLR care about design any longer?

The Range Rover GT was designed by a team under previous JLR chief creative officer Gerry McGovern. It was hugely influenced by previous head of exterior design Massimo Frascella. Those two have now departed. On the day the company released the first photo of the GT, TopGear.com asked Range Rover MD Martin Limpert about succession.

"PB Balaji [JLR's CEO] said for the moment we are enhancing the authority of our existing design team. So we have a lead of exterior design, we have a lead of interior design, we have a lead of materiality design, a lead of industrialisation design. This creative team now reports into Chris Thorp, who is now the chief corporate officer."

Let's unpack that. JLR has always been a company of superstar designers: McGovern and Frascella for the current cars, and before that Ian Callum (I-Pace, F-Type, XJ, XF) and Julian Thomson (concepts and the first Evoque). Many talented people, such as Andy Wheel who has been there many years, remain. But none has been asked to take the top job.

McGovern's departure was unplanned but the company influenced it. Yet it won't say it's recruiting.

Chris Thorp is not a dedicated designer by training. His career started as a reporter and road tester on Auto Express. In 2012 he went into corporate PR at Nissan before joining JLR.

To quote from his LinkedIn: "The chief corporate officer actively drives business activities, bringing together several key areas including internal and external corporate reputation management and communications, government affairs, royal and diplomatic affairs, JLR Motorsport and the executive business office."

Thorp's PA is going struggle to carve out time in his diary to lead and advocate for design.

It might be good that the different design department heads have autonomy. But it's surely significant that, first, there's no individual designer to bring interior, exterior and materials together as a cohesive whole, and second that none acts as the face and advocate for design within and outside the company.

So, does Range Rover, which built its pre-eminence not just on superb vehicle capability but also on their stunning design, any longer care so much? I'd say design and image do matter. After all, look at the Range Rover GT. I asked Limpert to describe that car.

"Its architecture, EMA, is a battery-optimised battery-first architecture. It's not just another SUV. It's the lowest ever Range Rover. It's the most car-like Range Rover, but it's not a car because it's a GT that has all terrain capabilities. It is made for long distance drives. It's forward orientated in terms of its refinement. It will have strong rear room. But its design is still absolutely recognisable as a Range Rover."

Now I don't know about you but this sounds suspiciously like the same idea as the Jaguar I-Pace, albeit with modern electrics and Range Rover design and image. It was designed by the people who made Range Rover a success – disguised prototypes were first photographed while Frascella was still there.

If the designers have been removed from the boardroom table and shoved down the pecking order, can we be confident this pre-eminence will be protected for future Range Rovers?