MUMBAI/CHENNAI: The spotlight will be on Tata Motors’ CEO and MD Guenter Butschek whose five-year term comes to an end next month.
There has been no word on whether the German, who has been managing the operations of Tata Group’s automobile flagship from Austria — where his family is based — for the past 11 months, will seek a reappointment for another five years. According to sources, he is reaching Mumbai on Thursday.
When asked whether Butschek will stay for a second term, Tata Motors declined to comment.
Butschek left for Austria last March, days before India announced a lockdown to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, and has been unable to return due to international travel restrictions, which have been tightened due to the new virus strain. He has been connecting with the company’s various stakeholders virtually, and also attended Tata Motors’ annual shareholder meet last August.
Tata Motors board will meet on January 29 to announce its third quarter earnings and Butschek’s reappointment is expected to be on the agenda at the meeting. The company registered an 89% growth in passenger car sales in Q3FY21 but posted a 4% decline in commercial vehicle sales in the domestic market.
Tata Motors has been on a transformation journey since Butschek, 60, put in place strategies to make the India unit a lean and nimble one.
Prior to joining Tata Motors in February 2016, he has been credited with restructuring companies like Airbus and Netherlands Car (a JV between Daimler and Mitsubishi Motors). He has been the third expat to helm Tata Motors after Karl Slym and Carl-Peter Forster.