The Board of Directors of Tata Sons last week appointed 44-year-old Cyrus Pallonji Mistry as the Chairman of the Board, to take office from December 28, 2012 upon the retirement of Mr Ratan N. Tata.
Post-retirement, Mr Tata will continue to serve the company under the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus. Mr Mistry belongs to the leading construction firm Shapoorji Pallonji & Co, and his family is the single largest stakeholder in Tata Sons with 18%. He currently serves as Deputy Chairman and will take over from Mr Tata at the end of this year as Chairman of all Tata Sons group companies, including Tata Motors. The company also announced that Mr Mistry would be appointed to the Board of Jaguar Land Rover.
Mr Tata will leave behind an enviable legacy made particularly exciting by recent events in most Tata group companies, especially Tata Motors. He transformed Tata Motors from a truck and bus manufacturer to a maker of passenger vehicles that mounted a stiff challenge to Maruti Suzuki. He spearheaded the development of the world’s lowest-cost car – the Tata Nano – and brought iconic luxury marques Jaguar Land Rover into India. It will be interesting to see where Tata Motors moves in the Mistry era – perhaps a Tata supercar in 2020?
