Jaguar Racing will have a new leader after the retirement of existing chairman Gerd Mauser following this weekend’s Berlin E-Prix Formula E finale.
Thierry Bollore, who joined Jaguar Land Rover from Groupe Renault last September, will succeed the German in a corporate realignment.
Mauser was appointed chief marketing officer for Jaguar Land Rover in January 2015 before joining Jaguar Racing formally in 2018.
He brought 32 years of automotive industry marketing experience, since beginning his career with BMW in 1985.
He then went on to hold a number of marketing positions at BMW and Porsche AG before in October 2013 he became a consultant for JLR. He was also a full-time president of Bundesliga football club VfB Stuttgart.
“Gerd Mauser has decided to retire from his role as chairman of Jaguar Racing at the end of the current Formula E season,” read a statement issued by Jaguar Racing.
His successor Bollore said: “Gerd successfully spearheaded Jaguar’s return to racing and into a frontrunning team in the highly competitive all-electric world championship.
“We would like to thank Gerd for his leadership and dedication and wish him every success in the future.”
Jaguar team boss James Barclay said that Mauser had been “a visionary presence” in the organisation as it returned to international motorsport for the first time since its unsuccessful Formula 1 campaign between 2000 and 2004.
“One thing that kind of stands out in the story and the journey is that he had real vision at the start,” Barclay told The Race.
“When I came to Jaguar Land Rover, one of the things which I was tasked to do was to look at how we get Jaguar back into racing.
“We had a number of options including for Formula E.
“He absolutely cemented that decision and put his all into supporting in that direction – that electrification was the future.
“And rather than follow others into other categories, we should lead from the front and we became the first premium manufacturer to commit to Formula E.”
Barclay paid further tribute to Mauser’s vision in believing in the Formula E programme, which he attributed to his experience in not only motorsport but also his previous role in football.
“He is hugely experienced in the automotive sensor but also in the sports industry and in football,” said Barclay.
“So he is someone who really understands the automotive industry, but also the sports industry as a whole.
“He is absolutely one of the visionaries and, I would say, senior leaders in industry who early doors took that step into coming to Formula E, and others followed.”
