TodayApril 16, 2022

Gerry McGovern, designer, Land Rover/Range Rover

When I first met Gerry McGovern he worked for Ford Motor Company in the Lincoln division. Now he is head of design for Land Rover.

Before designing for Lincoln McGovern worked for Land Rover, back in 1996. He designed the Freelander from scratch.  It was launched in 1996 at the Frankfurt auto show, and the Freelander went on to be the best selling compact SUV in Europe for seven years.

McGovern started work on the first iteration Range Rover, but left before it came out. BMW owned Land Rover then. When Ford Motor Company owned Land Rover McGovern was designing Lincolns in the United States. He is back with Land Rover, now, under the ownership of TATA motor company.

TATA supported Land Rover with $600 million to redesign Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and LR4.

McGovern designed the Range Rover to look smaller than it is, understate, and softer. McGovern says that was deliberate.

McGovern also talks about the LRX compact SUV that Land Rover just announced will go into production.

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Lou Ann Hammond

Lou Ann Hammond is the CEO of Carlist and Driving the Nation. She is the co-host of Real Wheels Washington Post carchat every Friday morning and is the Automotive, energy correspondent for The John Batchelor Show and a Contributor to Automotive Electronics magazine headquartered in Korea. Hammond is a founding member of the Women's World Car of the Year #WWCOTY, and board member of the Women in Automotive.