Jaguar Land Rover has announced the successor to Adrian Mardell, the outgoing CEO, following his unexpected decision to step down.
PB Balaji will act as the new chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover from November 2025.
It comes after Adrian Mardell, who had been CEO of the British icon for three years, announced his desire to retire after 35 years at the company.
In his previous role, Balaji had been serving as the Group Chief Financial Officer of the Tata Motors Group, JLR's parent company, since November 2017.
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PB Balaji has been unveiled as the new CEO of Jaguar Land Rover
|JAGUAR LAND ROVER
Balaji also has 32 years of experience in the automotive and consumer goods industries across finance and supply chain functions.
Commenting on his appointment, Balaji said it was a "privilege" to lead the "incredible company".
He added: "Over the past eight years, I have grown to know and love this company and its redoubtable global brands.
"I look forward to working with the team to take it to even greater heights. I thank Adrian for his immense contributions and wish him well for his next innings."
READ MORE: Jaguar Land Rover CEO Adrian Mardell to step down after overseeing 'woke' rebrand and EV switch
Adrian Mardell announced his intention to step down as JLR CEO in July
|REUTERS
Mardell said it had been a "great privilege" to lead Jaguar Land Rover over the last three years, after the financial expert helped boost profits after struggling during the pandemic.
The 64-year-old steered the company through difficult times, from large debts to securing the brand's best profit figures for a decade in 2024.
Mardell continued: "Together with the incredible JLR workforce, we have cemented JLR’s position in the automotive industry during a time of incredible change.
"I would like to thank everyone in JLR and the extended Tata Group, and wish Balaji every success in his new role."
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Some accused the brand of going 'woke' and replacing tradition with the 'Copy Nothing' moniker
| JAGUARBalaji has previously worked across the Tata Motors Group in Mumbai, London, Singapore and Switzerland and is credited with the "successful transformation" at Tata.
One of his first major tasks will be to continue the rollout of Jaguar's electric vehicle pledge after the Type 00 concept was unveiled last November.
The introduction of the electric vehicle was deemed controversial as leaked images before the presentation were mocked on social media.
Others criticised the lack of cars in the adverts accompanying the brand relaunch, which included models dressed in bold colours and with striking hairstyles.
Jaguar Land Rover announced the overhaul of the Jaguar brand last November | JAGUARThe luxury brand moved away from the iconic "leaper" and introduced new features, including a new "J" logo and the rollout of further striking advertisements with the moniker "copy nothing".
The Type 00 is expected to begin production next year, with the brand hoping to capture significant portions of the luxury electric vehicle market.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Jaguar Land Rover PLC, Tata Motors and Tata Sons, thanked Adrian Mardell for the "stellar turnaround" of the historic British brand.
He concluded: "The search for a suitable candidate to lead JLR has been undertaken by the Board for the past few months, and after careful consideration, it was decided to appoint Balaji. This move will ensure that we continue to accelerate our journey to Reimagine JLR."