Former GM Europe Boss To Head-Up Tata/JLR

Carl-Peter Forster takes the reins as CEO of Tata and will oversee Jaguar Land Rover

By Riggers / Tuesday, 16 February 2010 / Loading comments

Carl-Peter Forster, the former head of General Motors Europe, has been appointed group CEO of Tata Motors.

The appointment means that Mr Forster will oversee the whole of Tata Motors' global interests, including Jaguar Land Rover.

Tata chairman Ratan Tata was predictably ebullient about Forster's appointment: "Tata Motors expects that Mr. Forster's induction will greatly facilitate its ambition towards being a truly international company," he said.

But Forster himself was a little more equivocal. "People normally get 100 days, plus or minus. Give me that time and we'll meet again," he told a news conference in Delhi.

Forster's caution is perhaps understandable. Tata motors recently swung back into profit and JLR's sales were up by 93 per cent in January, but Tata posted its first loss for seven years last March.

So what does Forster's arrival mean for JLR? It's too early to say, but one thing for certain is that it is an indication of just how seriously Mr Tata takes his car businesses - which range from the tiny £1400 Nano to the rather more rarefied ranks of Jags and Range Rovers.

Tata clearly has ambitions towards becoming a global force, and a man of Forster's experience in the industry ought to constitute a pretty safe pair of hands.