September 2025 | Issue 782 | Page(s) 4 | Craig Mitchell
When news broke in late July that JLR CEO, Adrian Mardell, was to leave the company by the end of 2025, there was much speculation as to who his eventual successor might be. Given the processes involved in recruiting for such a senior role, industry experts assumed there would be no imminent announcement and yet, by 4 August, it was confirmed that P.B. Balaji, Chief Financial Officer of Tata Motors, would be taking over as JLR’s new CEO from November.
It appears that Mardell’s departure had been planned for some time, enabling a successor to be announced early on. According to Tata Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, JLR’s search for a replacement had been ongoing “for the past few months”.
Mardell’s stint in the top job began in late 2022 following the sudden departure of Thierry Bolloré. An official statement issued by JLR in July said: “Adrian Mardell has expressed his desire to retire from JLR after three years as CEO and 35 years with the company. His successor will be announced in due course.”
It was during Mardell’s tenure that JLR achieved a major financial turnaround, moving from massive losses and heavy debt to a record pre-tax profit of £2.5bn for the 2024/25 financial year. He also oversaw the creation of JLR’s House of Brands strategy, which has seen Defender, Discovery, Range Rover and Jaguar becoming separate corporate brands with their own marketing strategies.
Mardell’s period as CEO also famously marked the start of Jaguar’s reinvention, with the phasing out of the existing range of models by the end of 2024 and the unveiling of Type 00 – the concept car heralding Jaguar’s all-EV era. The first of Jaguar’s new-generation production EVs – a four-door ‘super GT’ with a six-figure price tag – is set to be revealed by the end of this year, with the aim of going on sale in 2026. In a recent interview with Autocar magazine, Mardell revealed that he had driven the new GT and was hugely impressed: “It was stunning in terms of its speed, its acceleration, its performance, but also how it delivered the power with a real sense of character. The chassis team are really excited about the possibilities of the vehicle.”
In the same interview, Mardell was confident of Jaguar’s future success, insisting he was “certain we will have wait lists which are significant relative to the volumes we aspire to with the first product”. He continued: “In today’s market conditions, I don’t see anything which is going to concern me about the success of the new Jaguar in this new world at all, actually.”
How the appointment of P.B. Balaji will affect the future of JLR – and Jaguar in particular – is open to speculation, although JLR insists that its ongoing Reimagine strategy will continue as planned. Balaji is already on the board at JLR, as well as Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, Tata Motors Finance Group, and Agratas – the company that’s building a new state-of-the-art battery production facility in Somerset, set to supply JLR’s future EV models and enhance the UK’s standing in the EV sector.
According to an official JLR statement, Balaji is “a well-regarded global leader with 32 years of experience in the automotive and consumer industries across finance and supply chain functions”. With experience working across Tata’s operations in Mumbai, London, Singapore and Switzerland, he is said to have been “closely associated with the successful transformation” of the company.
Tata chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, added: “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. He has been associated with the company for the past many years and is familiar with the company, its strategy, and has been working with the JLR leadership team.”
Commenting on his appointment, Balaji said: “It is my privilege to lead this incredible company. 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.”
1 Adrian Mardell, who steps down as JLR’s CEO after three years in the top job 2 Mardell’s successor is P.B. Balaji, currently Chief Financial Officer of Tata Motors 3 Jaguar’s new all-EV era was previewed via the Type 00 concept, on display at Gaydon on 21 September 2025
PHOTOS: JLR
