Tata Motors managing director falls off Bangkok hotel, dies

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Tata-Motors-managing-director-Karl-Slym-falls-off-Bangkok-hotel-dies/articleshow/29426972.cms

 

Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym falls off Bangkok hotel, dies

TNN & Agencies | Jan 27, 2014, 12.25AM IST

NEW DELHI/BANGKOK: Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym died on Sunday after apparently falling from a high floor of a five-star hotel in Bangkok.

Slym, who was scripting a revival strategy for the company, had gone to Thailand to attend a board meeting of the firm's unit there.

A company spokesperson said a postmortem would be carried out on Monday. Details about the accident were sketchy. Bloomberg quoted a company spokeswoman as saying that he fell from the city's Shangri-La hotel, where he was staying,

Slym, 51, a British national, was known to be an affable and highly-focused manager. He was the head of GM's India operations before joining Tata Motors in October 2012. He was the first expatriate and the fourth managing director of the $100 billion Tata Group's flagship company, Tata Motors.

"Karl (Slym) joined us in October 2012, and was a valued colleague who was providing strong leadership at a challenging time for the Indian auto industry. In this hour of grief, our thoughts are with Karl's wife and family," Tata Motors chairman Cyrus P Mistry said in a statement.

Tata Motors has been going through a rough patch particularly as buyers shunned the low-cost Nano after its spectacular debut in March 2009. It's other cars such as the Indica and Indigo too have struggled in a market hit by the economic slowdown.

As part of a restructuring exercise Slym last week had announced a voluntary retirement scheme to trim costs.

Slym, who had a Master of Science in Business Administration from Stanford University, was not new to challenges. Between 2007 and 2011, he had steered GM India through very tough times.

Hit hard by the global economic slump after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, GM had gone bankrupt in the US, denting consumer confidence even in India.

He soon came out with an answer to instil confidence among buyers, unleashing the 'Chevy promise' campaign, where he appeared in ads with his hand over the heart, promising to offer free maintenance and service for all GM cars for three years after payment of a nominal amount.

The scheme worked for GM India. Although, Slym left for China, his stint at GM India had come under scrutiny a few months ago after the government ordered an enquiry over the recall of Tavera.

Slym returned to India within a year, but joined Tata Motors.

In an interview with TOI last Wednesday he exuded confidence and said the company may be down, but not out.

In what was perhaps his last media interview, Slym also told TOI that he was confident that the Nano would bounce back in a modern and young avatar, and had detailed plans for new launches.

"We are confident of regaining our second-biggest Indian carmaker position as we move ahead with new plans," he had said.

Besides work, Slym loved cricket. He was upset of not getting a Mumbai Indians T-shirt of his size ahead of the 2013 IPL final match.

"His death comes at a time when the company seems to be close to turning the corner, with new designs and a new petrol engine family, which hasn't been Tata's strong point," Anil Sharma, an analyst with IHS Automotive was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Tata Motors recently introduced a new petrol engine for its passenger vehicles and has been planning to launch a new hatchback and compact sedan this year, its first new branded passenger vehicles since 2010.

"It (his death) comes before his efforts bear fruit. We should be able to see the results of his work in a year or two," Sharma said.