Geely recruits top Jaguar exec to lead UK team

Veteran Jaguar designer Wayne Burgess, one of the candidates to eventually replace Jaguar design director Ian Callum, has left Jaguar Land Rover and joined Geely Auto Group.

Burgess will be head of design and vice president of Geely Design UK, a newly established unit of the Chinese automaker.

Burgess spent the last 17 years at Jaguar in several senior management roles and had a hand in helping shape such key vehicles as the F-Type sports car and the F-Pace, Jaguar's SUV.

Geely, in a statement Friday, said Burgess will work from a new facility to be opened in Coventry, central England.

Geely Design UK will expand to include around 100 designers and support staff within the next five years and will support in-house design functions of Geely's brands including Geely Auto, Lynk & CO, Proton and Lotus.

The Coventry studio joins others in Shanghai; Gothenburg, Sweden; Barcelona, Spain; and Los Angeles. It is the latest in a growing global network of Geely design centers.

"The addition of Geely Design UK showcases Geely's commitment to the UK and also shows Britain's leading position in the areas of creativity and design. Wayne brings with him a wealth of experience in premium car design which will help us develop our brands," Peter Horbury, executive vice president of design for Geely Auto Group, said int he statement.

Callum, 64, has led Jaguar design for 20 years. Burgess, whose latest assignment at Jaguar was as production studio director and SVO Projects at Jaguar, played a key role in shaping the sleek Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover. When Callum wasn't available to introduce new vehicles to media at launch events, it was a role Burgess often accepted.

Geely isn’t the first Chinese auto titan to snap up British car design talent. FAW Group, the carmaker that developed the Red Flag limousine for Chairman Mao Zedong six decades ago, last year hired Giles Taylor to lead its auto design team. Taylor helped to create vehicles such as the latest Phantom sedan and the Cullinan SUV for Rolls-Royce.

Bloomberg contributed to this report