Tata Motors MD Karl Slym is no more

Managing Director of Tata Motors Ltd. Karl Slym, passed away on Sunday, 26th January 2014 following an accident at Bangkok. His fall from a high floor of a hotel in the city led to his death and a post mortem is expected to be conducted today according to company sources.

Slym was in the Thai capital to attend a board meeting of Tata’s Thailand unit. British born Slym was hired by the company in 2012 to revive the flagging sales and market share in their domestic business. The prolonged slowdown in the auto industry was a challenge he faced during his stint at the company. The company issued a statement to this effect. It said, “Slym was providing leadership to the company through a challenging market environment".

Tata Motors Chairman Cyrus Mistry expressed his condolence on the sad demise and said, “Karl 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.”
"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," said Anil Sharma, an analyst with IHS Automotive.

"His death comes before his efforts bear fruit. We should be able to see the results of his work in a year or two," he added.
Slym led Tata Motors operations in India and international markets including South Korea, Thailand and South Africa. Earlier in his career Slym was executive vice president of SGMW Motors, China, a General Motors joint venture and has also headed General Motors in India.

Post their Indica launch in 1998 and Nano in 2008 Tata Motors recently introduced a new petrol engine for its passenger vehicles and plans are on the anvil to launch a new hatchback and compact sedan this year thus being their first new branded passenger vehicles since 2010.