India's top vehicle maker, Tata Motors (IW 1000/185), on Tuesday appointed General Motors' former India head, Karl Slym, as managing director, as the company battles falling domestic sales.
Slym, a car industry veteran, will head the India operations and the markets of South Korea, Thailand, Spain, Indonesia and South Africa.
Slym succeeds Prakash Telang, who retired in June as the head of Tata Motors, part of the giant Mumbai-based steel-to-tea Tata conglomerate.
Tata's British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover will continue to be managed independently.
Slym is likely to join Tata Motors on Oct. 1, the company said.
Tata Motors, which also makes utility vehicles and the low-cost Nano car, last Thursday posted a 12.2% rise to 22.44 billion rupees (US$406 million) in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Jaguar and Land Rover.
But Tata Motors' car sales in India slid 9.9% from a year earlier to 62,619 units, and its profit from stand-alone local operations nearly halved to 2.05 billion rupees in the June-ended quarter.
Tata has warned that slower Indian industrial growth and a weak economic outlook would impact overall demand in months ahead.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
