Exclusive: Massimo Frascella, design director of Jaguar Land Rover quits the company

JLR  design chief has resigned from the company and is understood to be serving his notice period. It is not clear where Frascella is headed after his stint at JLR. 

The key architect behind the new age designs of Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar, Massimo Frascella oversees all aspects of exterior and interior design from concept to delivery. He has played a pivotal role in the design evolution of each of these much-loved British marques. 

Having completed a transportation design degree at Institute D’Arte Applicata & Design in 1997, Frascella started his career in Turin. He began his career at Stile Bertone –  a design firm – following on to work on some critical projects like Lincoln Mercury at Ford and Kia Motors, before joining Land Rover as Creative Studio Chief in 2011.

He steered the exterior design of models such as Discovery Sport, New Discovery, New Range Rover Velar, New Range Rover Evoque and New Defender.

Since 2020 Frascella has also directed the design of the radical reimagining of the Jaguar brand – which is readying itself for an all-electric avatar by 2025.

His journey at JLR which started with Evoque in 2011, was followed by Velar and Defender back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. His touch can be very clearly seen in the new generation of Range Rover and Range Rover sports over the last half a decade.

In response to Autocar Professional's query, in a company statement, Gerry McGovern, JLR Chief Creative Officer said: “Massimo Frascella, JLR Design Director, has decided to leave JLR to pursue new opportunities. We would like to thank Massimo for his significant creative contribution to JLR and we wish him every success in the future.”

Regarding the question of who will take charge of the operation – Gerry McGovern remains Chief Creative Officer, it clarified.