My first months at Jaguar

It was 1999 and the day before I started at Jaguar as Director of Styling. Yes, the department was still called ‘Styling’ back then, something I knew I had to change in time. It’s just too frivolous.

I was cleaning out my garage at home and thinking I should be doing something more important on the eve of my biggest adventure to date. I was reflecting on my decision to not only leave a job I loved at TWR, but to take on such an awesome responsibility. My decision was made when a good friend suggested I didn’t really have a choice! If I hadn’t done it, I’d have spent the rest of my life wondering how it would have turned out.

I’d had my interview with Wolfgang Reitzle the week before. He had recently been  appointed as CEO of the Premier Automotive group (PAG), the luxury arm of Ford, which Jaguar was part of. The interview was fascinating as I observed the confident insight of an engineer who loved and really understood cars. He pointed out of the window at a Ford Focus sitting in the car park. It was side on. ‘So,’ he said, ‘proportion. What is wrong with the proportion of that car?’