Tata Motors senior VP of passenger car unit quits

Ankush Arora was spearheading the crucial launches of Bolt and Zest in the second half of this year

Tata Motors’ Ankush Arora, senior vice-president-commercial of the passenger vehicle business unit, who was leading the revival plan of the Mumbai-based company, has resigned.

The former-General Motors’ sales specialist, brought on board by the late Karl Slym, former managing director, was spearheading the crucial launches for the Bolt and Zest, the two new models due for introduction in the second half of this year.

The reason for this sudden exit is unclear. “I have put in my papers for better prospects,” Arora said in a text reply. “Will let you know in due course of my next destination.”

RESIGNATION NOTES

• Ankush Arora, senior vice-president, commercial, for the passenger vehicle business unit was spearheading the crucial launches for the Bolt and Zest, the two new models due for introduction this year
• Tata Motors reported its lowest sales last month in at least a decade. Sales of passenger vehicles dipped to a little less than 7,500 units
• In 2011, Carl-Peter Foster, then managing director, had announced a premature exit

Tata Motors reported its lowest sales last month in at least a decade. Sales of passenger vehicles dipped to a little less than 7,500 units. Those of the Nano, Indica and Indigo slipped 35 per cent, pushing the company below Toyota to the sixth spot in India sales.

The company is struggling to maintain its footing in an intensely competitive passenger vehicle market. The sudden demise of Slym in January created a leadership vacuum at the top, forcing the company to set up a steering committee to manage affairs.

Arora was leading the charge of one of Tata Motors’ most ambitious plans, including the induction of at least 3,000 sales personnel, to be trained and used in a revamped  network. The company is upgrading almost two-thirds of its 500 sales outlets to gear up for the Zest and Bolt launches.

Arora joined Tata Motors in April 2013. He’d worked with Escorts India, Bhawan Automotive Center and General Motors. He is an alumnus of the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology. After a considerable time under Slym in GM India, he was promoted to vice-president of sales, service and marketing at GM Korea.

The exit comes exactly a year after former Volkswagen India sales head Neeraj Garg quit last year from Tata Motors, at the same post. Arora had replaced Garg, who only served Tata Motors for a little over seven months. In 2011, Carl-Peter Foster, then managing director and chief executive, had announced a premature exit, citing personal reasons for a move back to Europe.