The Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Ralf Speth will step down from his role at the end of his contract term in September as Britain’s biggest carmaker shows signs of improvement after a series of job cuts, losses, and falling sales.

Ralf Speth has led the company since 2010 during which it has followed a global expansion with new factories in China, Brazil, and Slovakia.

But sales ended last year at just over 550,000 vehicles as the firm was slower than some rivals in electrifying its line-up whilst large drops in diesel demand and a slump in China, the world’s biggest autos market, hit its performance.

JLR posted a 6% decline in 2019 sales but it has bounced back in China in recent months and overall company sales rose by 1.3% in December.

Meanwhile, Speth will stay on as non-executive vice chairman at JLR and will remain on the board of Tata Sons, the parent group of Tata Motors which owns JLR, the firm said in a statement. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, said: I want to thank Ralf for his passion and commitment over the last 10 years.  Ralf developed Jaguar Land Rover from a niche UK centric manufacturer to a respected, technological leading, global premium company.