Life by Design

Professor Gerry McGovern, Design Director & Chief Creative Officer, Land Rover, was conferred with the title of OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by the Queen of England, for his invaluable contribution to the field of Automotive Design, over the last four decades. From having designed the Range Rover Evoque to the Range Rover Velar to the Discovery Sport and most recently, the much talked about, Land Rover Defender, he sure doesn't seem to be in any mood to slow down. In this interview, he tells TURN OF SPEED, how it is vital that Design set the vision while being defined and guided by a design stategy and architecture, with support from creative Engineering. TOS: Tell us about the epic changes that Land Rover Design has seen over the years? GM: Land Rover started in 1948 and over the course of those seven decades it has evolved from a specialist manufacturer of 4X4’s to the creators of the world’s leading luxury SUV’s. Our founders Maurice and Spencer Wilks were responsible for the inspiration and concept work that led to the development of the first Land Rover off-road utility vehicle which was based on an engineering led approach. For the next sixty years this approach of product development creating the overall