Tata Motors group CEO Carl-Peter Forster quits

The move comes at a time when the Tata Group is placing the top management in order.

Barely 18 months after joining the group,Carl-Peter Forster,the group CEO and managing director of Tata Motors,stepped down with immediate effect on Friday citing unavoidable personal circumstances.

The move comes at a time when the Tata Group is placing the top management in order at all its group companies ahead of Ratan Tatas retirement in December 2012.

However,at the request of the management,Forster will remain a non-executive director on the companys board.

The Board respects Carl-Peters personal circumstances that led to this move. We would like to thank him for his contributions to the successful development of our company in his role as Group CEO and MD, said Ratan Tata,chairman,Tata Motors. We are looking forward to continue to working with him as a non-executive member of the Board.

A Tata Motors spokesperson also confirmed to The Indian Express that the company is not planning to appoint a new group CEO. Prakash Telang,MD,India operations and Ralf Speth,CEO of Jaguar Land Rover will now directly report to the board.

Forster,a former BMW and General Motors veteran had taken charge at Tata Motors in February 2010 at a time when its $2.3 billion acquisition of the British marquee JLR and its falling demand,had pulled down the companys performance making it post its first consolidated annual loss (ended March 2009) in seven years.

I deeply regret that my personal circumstances make it difficult for me to continue to perform the challenging duties of managing the thriving global activities of the Tata Motors Group with its main activities in India and the UK and increasingly in additional overseas markets, Forster said in a statement issued by Tata Motors. As he steps down,Forster can take satisfaction in having turned around the loss-making operations of JLR. However,the failure of the companys R1-lakh car,Nano in the domestic market would weigh heavily on him.