Dr Ralf Speth to replace David Smith as Jaguar Land Rover CEO

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) yesterday said that it had appointed Dr Ralf Speth as its chief executive officer with overall responsibility for the company's operations.

Speth will be coming in place of the car makers former CEO David Smith, who had resigned abruptly late last month. (See: Jaguar Land Rover's CEO David Smith resigns)

The appointment of Speth to head JLR operations comes after Tata Motors hired the former General Motors European head, Carl-Peter Forster this week as Tata Motors' Group CEO to take care of the overall responsibility of the company globally, including JLR. (See: Tata Motors appoints GM's Carl-Peter Forster as group CEO)

Speth, who will be reporting to Forster, has worked in the European car industry for more than 22 years, including at BMW and Ford.

Ravi Kant, vice chairman, Tata Motors, said, "The introduction of Dr Ralf Speth into Jaguar Land Rover under the guidance of Carl-Peter Forster will considerably strengthen the management of the company and enhance the position and reputation of the two iconic brands in line with the long-term strategy of the company."

Prior to this appointment, he was head of global operations of the Linde Group. He has spent most of his career with BMW where his last appointment was vice-president, Land Rover.

He was also director production, quality and product planning at Premier Automotive Group of Ford Ltd.