Cyrus Mistry takes charge of Tata Motors

Given the sudden leadership vacuum at Tata Motors, Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry will take charge of the company.

The death of Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym has come at a time when the company was stepping into a new phase. Big product-related strategies is what Mr Slym was on the brink of unveiling at the time of his sudden death, and it will be crucial to see how the way forward is charted by senior management.

Mr Mistry will head a Corporate Steering Committee, which will oversee all the operations of the car and truck manufacturer. Other members come from the current Executive Committee already constituted a few months ago. This includes Ravi Pisharody, Satish Borwankar, C Ramakrishnan, Dr Tim Leverton, Ranjit Yadav, Mamillapalle Venkatram, Ankush Arora and Rajesh Bagga.

Mr Mistry will also chair all New Product Design and Engineering Review meetings. However, Tata says it will look to fill the position of managing director in the next few months.

Cyrus Mistry has said, "I was deeply saddened by the tragic and untimely demise of Karl Slym, Managing Director of Tata Motors. To ensure leadership continuity, the Board of Tata Motors has constituted a Corporate Steering Committee to oversee strategy execution and key aspects of operations; the Corporate Steering Committee will be chaired by me, and will include the current Executive Committee members. The Board expects to appoint a Managing Director in due course."

Tata has launched the first of the new range of expected future vehicles at the ongoing Auto Expo. The Bolt is a premium hatchback that will feature some segment firsts and builds on its Indica Vista family, while the Zest is a subcompact sedan which is based on the Manza. The two cars will be launched later this year and Tata says they will be in line with safety and emission regulations worldwide.