Jaguar, Land Rover CEO Mysteriously Steps Down

If you’ve been following a couple of Britain’s better known products lately, you know that they’re only just beginning to reap the dividends of years’ worth of design and production development. Having finally posted some profits (albeit negligible), the two brands have a few models showing some promise, with more on the horizon thanks to a fresh infusion of capital from Tata.

But that doesn’t change the reality of the situation: with the recession still a recent wound, luxury carmakers are suffering, and although Jaguar and Land Rover are doing surprisingly well, they have brought Tata’s overall numbers down slightly, forcing the Indian company to post their first worldwide loss in seven years.

All of this has led to the departure of J/LR’s CEO, David Smith. Once the head of Ford’s finance division in Europe, Smith assisted in the sale of Aston Martin before being tasked with the heading of Jaguar/Land Rover after its sale to Tata. A short release by Tata gave no formal explanation for Smith’s departure.