Ankush
Arora, Senior Vice President, Commercial , Tata Motors has put in his papers.
His resignation has not come as a surprise to the industry as he was considered
very close to the late Karl Slym, Managing Director of Tata Motors who died in
a freak accident a few months back.
Arora’s
exit has come at a time when the company is struggling to keep up on the sales
front, especially with passenger cars. Recently the company unveiled two new car
models Zest and Bolt. Manufactured on a completely enhanced X1 platform, the Zest and
the Bolt mark a strategic shift towards a global portfolio of cars. These cars
will be launched in 2014 in India and subsequently in other countries.
According
to sources, it was obvious that Arora would have felt out of place in the
company without Slym under whom he had worked for so long when they were in
General Motors India. Both Slym and Arora were considered very close, with the
latter heading the marketing at GM India. Slym had stepped in after the MD’s
post was left vacant in Tata Motors after the retirement of Prakash Telang in
2012.
After
leaving GM India, Slym got an overseas posting which he quit in order to join
Tata Motors. Arora was one of the people he recruited when he joined Tata
Motors as Managing Director. Arora joined Tata Motors in early 2013 as senior
vice president, Strategy but was recently made the senior VP, Commercial, Passenger
Vehicle Business Unit.
Of
late, Tata Motors has seen a spate of resignations, starting with the 2009
resignation of Rajiv Dube. Then in May 2013 Neeraj Garg quit the company.