---
title: "Land Rover Design Boss Wants to Put the Aftermarket Out of Business"
description: "It seems that Gerry McGovern, Land Rover's design director, has a beef with the people messing with his vehicles."
date: "2017-03-22"
modified: "2017-03-22"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/design/8504/land-rover-design-boss-wants-to-put-the-aftermarket-out-of-business"
categories:
  - "Aftermarket"
  - "Car Tech"
  - "Land Rover News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "land rover"
  - "Tuning"
---

# Land Rover Design Boss Wants to Put the Aftermarket Out of Business

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/03/mansory-land-rover-range-rover-aftermarket-ugly.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com\</em\>*

Talk about your unexpected vitriol. [Gerry McGovern, Land Rover's head of design](<https://media.landrover.com/person/gerry-mcgovern>), has a bit of a bone to pick with the many aftermarket companies and tuning firms that have been having their way with his vehicles, according to a recent interview.

"We see them taking our property and making a bit more profit," [McGovern told *Autocar*](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/land-rover-design-director-vows-put-third-party-tuners-out-business>). “Well, we’re going to put them out of business through SVO. The opportunities we’re creating there, and the quality of our work, are much better.”

"It’s easy to take a product that’s already been created and put a little spoiler on it or whatever," McGovern said, "but I’d like to see them design their own car."

SVO, in case you've forgotten, is [Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations division](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/4376/jaguar-land-rover-planning-four-more-special-svo-models-by-2020>), which is tasked with everything from making [faster F-Types](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/1871/jaguar-bringing-barmy-f-type-svr-to-geneva>) and [fancier Range Rovers](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/7483/the-2016-range-rover-autobiography-sv-is-pure-luxury-and-lots-of-it>) to whipping up[ limited-edition cars for the company's wealthiest fans](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/8457/jaguar-may-be-turning-the-f-type-into-a-gt4-race-car>).

While we at *The Drive* do appreciate McGovern's zeal for his company's products, it's hard to imagine a realistic scenario where JLR's in-house custom operation could replace the breadth of options offered by aftermarket companies. [The continued existence of the Mansory lineup alone](<https://www.mansory.com/en/range-cars/land-rover>) proves there are plenty of people out there willing to drop big money on Land Rovers ugly enough to make most designers toss their cookies.

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)