In a tragic incident at a Bangkok hotel, Karl Slym, the 51-year-old MD of Tata Motors, passed away.
Karl Slym, only recently, had unveiled the Tata T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship and was on a business trip in Thailand when the accident occurred at the hotel. He was perceived as an key person who would help bring about change in the Indian automobile market for Tata Motors. The new Nano Twist, complete with power steering, was also launched earlier this month to tackle the problem of dropping sales numbers.
His previous role at General Motors (GM), before joining Tata Motors, helped in no small part to steer the company in the way of success in a market as complex as India. Born in the UK, he has spent more than 20 years in various locations globally with Toyota and GM.
Cyrus Mistry, chairman of Tata Motors, said in his statement: “Tata Motors deeply regrets to announce the untimely and tragic demise of its Managing Director, Karl Slym, in Bangkok earlier today. Karl Slym was in Bangkok to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors of Tata Motors Thailand Ltd. Karl 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.”
Story: Jim Gorde
