Land Rover Defender
This was the car that JLR was scared to build. The successor to the 1983 legend, multiple prototypes and concepts were created before McGovern and his team settled on the design we first saw six years ago.
The most rugged design in the current Land Rover stable, it has proved a massive hit, consistently selling more than 100,000 units each year.
Range Rover L460
Considering the L405 still looked fresh, McGovern had his work cut out in making the latest Range Rover stand out. He succeeded, though, taking minimalism to the max with flush door handles, hidden tailights, very few creases in the bodywork and windows without visible frames. As such, the Range Rover remains on top of the SUV design game.
Greatest misses:
Land Rover Discovery 5
In stark contrast to the rugged and chiselled Discovery 3 and 4, the 5 was positioned as a more on-road-focused, sleeker proposition.
While this worked with almost all of McGovern’s previous designs, it ended up diluting the essence of the Discovery brand, scaring customers away.
The big hoo-ha focused on its offset rear numberplate, though, which the aftermarket quickly found a fix for.
