Carl-Peter Forster, who quit on Friday as as chief executive of General Motors European operations in protest at the GM board's decision  to scrap Opel's sale to Magna, is likely to be hired by Tata Motors for a senior position at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), according to UK media reports.

People close to GM Europe told the London-based Finacial Times that Forster was in talks with two companies, Tata Motors and another company over a possible high-ranking management "in the broader engineering sector."

Forster s regarded an ideal choice since he had previously worked for Land Rover in the 1990s as head of production during BMW's ownership of the marque.

On Friday, Forster resigned from GM Europe in protest at the US carmaker's decision to scrap its takeover deal with Magna. He had supported the deal to sell Opel to a consortium led by Canadian car parts group Magna and russia's Sberbank.

He was also tipped to run Opel after Magna acquired a majority stake in Opel.

Citing people close to the situation, FT reported said that Tata Motors had initiated talks earlier this year, but Forster has also held talks with other companies in the car industry in the past few months.

It is not clear whether Forster will be appointed by Tata Motors at JLR for the group's British operations or European operations.

With the onset of the recession last year, the UK car industry has been the worst hit in the country's manufacturing sector and JLR reported a combined pre-tax loss was £673.4 million in 2008, compared to a combined pre-tax profit of £660.5 million in 2007.

The car maker had roped in consulting firms KPMG and German firm Roland Berger to reduce costs, breakeven volumes, and also increase efficiency of JLR's overall operations. (See: Tata hires KPMG, Roland Berger to help solve JLR problem )