Jaguar design boss Ian Callum quits

Jaguar has announced that its director of design, Ian Callum, will leave the car-maker on July 1.

Replacing Callum is current creative design director Julian Thomson, who has worked at Jaguar for more than 20 years.

During his time at Jaguar Callum was credited with overhauling the brand's obsession with retro design for more modern shapes to take the battle to its German rivals.

Originally, Scottish-born Callum began working as a designer with Ford back in 1979 where he worked for 11 years before moving on to Tom Walkinshaw Design where he helped pen the Aston Martin DB7 and even played a small part in some HSV models.

In 1999 Callum arrived at Jaguar as Director of Design, although while there he was responsible for penning the first-generation Vanquish and oversaw the DB9's creation.

The first proper Jaguar designed under the influence of Callum arrived in 2006 with the XK, the coupe and convertible then followed by the XF in 2008 that shook Jaguar traditionalists to the core.

The new era of design then continued with the even more ambitious XJ that led to the arrival of the F-TYPE, F-PACE and, eventually, the ground-breaking pure-electric I-PACE.

“I have had an incredible career at Jaguar," Callum said. "One of my biggest highlights was creating the XF, because it represented the beginning of a new era, moving Jaguar from tradition to contemporary design. It was a significant turning point in our story.

"I came into this role with a mission to take Jaguar design back to where it deserved to be. It has taken 20 years, but I believe I have achieved what I set out to do."

Despite quitting as chief designer, Callum, who has left to "pursue other design projects", will continue to work with Jaguar as a design consultant.

Callum's successor Thomson is another long-term Jaguar stalwart, arriving at the brand back in 2000. Before then, he worked at Ford and VW and headed up Lotus design where he created the original series 1 Elise.