NEW YORK—Tata Motors Limited on Monday hired former General Motors Europe head Carl-Peter Forster to run the Indian truck maker’s international operations.
Tata, part of India’s largest conglomerate, purchased Jaguar Land Rover from Ford for $2.5 billion in 2008, and needed an experienced international executive who understands marketing upscale vehicles on a global scale amid falling demand for luxury items.
Jaguar Land Rover, which operates the Jaguar performance car and Land Rover off-road vehicle brands, is based in the U.K., and sent Tata to its first annual loss in seven years last year.
Forster brings extensive experience to the fledging Tata brand. He ran GM’s European operations for eight years, including overseeing Chevrolet, Opel/Vauxhall, and Saab. Prior to joining GM, he was an executive at BMW, the German luxury automaker, for 13 years.
“Tata Motors expects that Mr. Forster’s induction will greatly facilitate its ambition towards being a truly international company,” said Ratan Tata, Chairman, in a statement.
Forster, 55, will assume the position formerly occupied by Ravi Kant, who stepped down last year to become non-executive vice president of the company. Forster resigned from GM Europe shortly after talks between Opel/Vauxhall and Canada’s Magna International faltered last year.
Last month, head of Jaguar Land Rover David Smith resigned from his post. Company spokesperson Debasis Ray said Tata is mulling whether to name a replacement for Smith.
Surging Sales
Tata Motors, famous for its supposedly world’s cheapest car Nano, has seen its sales surge in recent months. January sales at the group were up 93 percent over the same month last year.
Jaguar Land Rover saw similar growths. Sales of Jaguar for January totaled 2,974, an increase of 122 percent over last year. Land Rover sold 13,295 vehicles, a gain of 219 percent, the company announced on Monday.
Sales of Jaguar and Land Rover suffered leading up to the recent global recession as consumers shied away from luxury items and cut back on spending. Ford was also going through restructuring, and it had decided to focus on its core brands, relinquishing control of its Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo brands in Europe.
Jaguar is currently collaborating with Lotus Engineering to develop a full-size “green” vehicle. The project, called “LimoGreen,” has received millions of pounds in U.K. government funding.
Autocar reported that an electric Jaguar would resemble the 2011 Jaguar XJ, albeit with an electric motor and a small gasoline generator that would help power and recharge the motor.
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