Watches

TAG Heuer CEO resigns as brand lowers its sights

WatchesAug 11, 2016

TAG Heuer CEO resigns as brand lowers its sights

LVMH watch head Jean-Claude Biver will be running TAG Heuer for the forseeable future, following the resignation of Stéphane Linder. 


Jean-Claude Biver is the head of watches for LVMH, which owns TAG Heuer, Zenith and Hublot. He will serve as interim CEO for TAG Heuer following the resignation of Stéphane Linder.
La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland--LVMH watch head Jean-Claude Biver will be running TAG Heuer for the forseeable future, following the resignation of Stéphane Linder.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the company said Linder was leaving to “pursue other professional interests.”

Linder was named CEO only 18 months ago, in May 2013, assuming the role after Jean-Christophe Babin left to head another brand under the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton umbrella, Bulgari.

This past June, TAG Heuer announced it was delaying the release of the Carrera powered by the new in-house CH80 movement, which has an 80-hour power reserve. The company said it would instead focus on producing just one chronograph movement in-house, the CH1887, to “respond more effectively to current market needs.”  

Although TAG Heuer claimed the production staff working on the CH80 would not be affected by the delayed release, reports of layoffs and employees’ hours being cut followed in the fall.

The brand also announced that it would focus on introducing more lower-priced, and less complicated, watches going forward.
 
A native of Switzerland, Linder had been with TAG Heuer for 21 years total, starting in the research and development division in 1993 and rising through the company’s ranks over the years. In 2007, the company promoted him to vice president of product design. He was serving as vice president of sales in North America at the time he was appointed CEO.
Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.

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