Tata Motors fell almost 4 percent in the morning trade today following the news of its managing director Karl Slym’s death. Slym died on Sunday after falling from a high floor of a hotel in Bangkok, the company said in a statement.
At 9. 30 am, Tata Motors is trading at357.00 on the BSE, down3.64 percent.
Slym, 51, was in Thailand to attend a meeting of the board of directors of Tata’s subsidiary in the country.
Slym’s death may be a major setback to Tata Motors’ restructuring process.
[caption id=“attachment_1327661” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption]
Slym had joined the company in October 2012, as part of a major management overhaul that also saw two other top-level appointments, and was the brainchild in the company’s strategy to regain its position in the domestic market. His demise is likely to be a speed breaker in that process.
“I am deeply saddened to inform you about the untimely and tragic demise of our company’s Managing Director, Karl Slym. Karl was visiting Bangkok for a meeting of the Board of Directors of Tata Motors Thailand and passed away earlier today,” said Cyrus Mistry, chairman, Tata Group in a statement.
“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.”
With Slym gone, Tata Motors now has the unenviable task of finding a replacement, notes this _Firstpost_ report. Its domestic passenger vehicle business is in tatters and Slym had begun to mend it with a multi pronged straregy and help from some of his former GM colleagues who were brought in at key positions within Tata Motors. He had set a turnaround target for the domestic vehicle business by 2016-17 by when brand new vehicle platforms would have been in the market.
Now, not only should Tata Motors continue with the blueprint Slym had already readied, it is even more imperative for the company to get an MD with a long term vision and abundant patience to achieve the painful turnaround of its domestic vehicle business.