Karl Slym joins Tata Motors ahead of schedule
13 Sep 2012
Karl Slym, who was slated to have joined Tata Motors on 1 October 2012, has joined Tata Motors as its managing director ahead of schedule. The company, however, did not provide any reason other than: ''…necessary formalities having been completed''.
Prior to his appointment, Slym was the executive vice president and board member of SGMW Motors, a three-way joint venture among General Motors, China's SAIC Motor Corporation Ltd and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co Ltd.
On 14 August Tata Motors had announced the appointment of Slym as its managing director, a post that has been lying vacant since the retirement of P M Telang on 21 June (see: Tata Motors appoints GM's Karl Slym as MD).http://www.domainb.com/companies/companies_t/Tata_Motors/20120814_karl_slym.html
Slym's will lead the operations of Tata motors both in India and global markets, including South Korea, Thailand, Spain, Indonesia and South Africa.
However, its UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover will continue to be independently handled by BMW veteran CEO Ralf Speth.
Slym takes over at time when Tata Motors when the company has lost its leadership in the utility vehicles segment to Mahindra & Mahindra, a fact lamented upon by Chairman Ratan Tata at the company's recent AGM.
Slym is widely credited with having steered General Motors through one of its most difficult phases in India, when its parent had declared bankruptcy in 2009.
Slym left India in January this year to be part of GM's China operations.