A strong advocate of design's relevance to brand equity, he is a member of the Jaguar Land Rover board of Management.

Through this period he worked on the MG EX-E concept car, was the lead designer of the critically acclaimed [3] MG F sports car and the Land Rover Freelander (the best selling compact SUV in Europe for 7 years),[citation needed] and led the team that created the third generation Range Rover.

Explaining why, McGovern said, "Land Rover fascinates me more than any other car maker because it has its roots in pure design as opposed to styling.

[6] McGovern was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to automotive design.

LRX was subsequently confirmed for 2011 production and introduced as the compact two litre Range Rover Evoque, with anticipated CO2 emissions of 130g/km.