Car Giant MD Dies After Falling From Balcony

The managing director of India's Tata Motors has died after he was believed to have fallen from a high floor balcony of a hotel in Bangkok today.

British-born Karl Slym was on a business trip at the time of his death and had attended a board meeting of the company's Thailand unit in the country's capital before plummeting from the hotel building.

A statement from Indian car firm, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, did not state the cause of the 51-year-old's death.

However, local news reports from Thailand suggested that he had accidentally fallen from a hotel balcony having lost his balance, although few details are known at this time.

Reports suggested that his wife Sally had accompanied him on the trip, and that he had been due to return to India tonight.

A post mortem examination to establish how he died is due to take place tomorrow, according to a Tata Motors Ltd spokesman.

Slym joined Tata Motors in October 2012, and was providing leadership to the company through a challenging market environment, the company said in a statement.

Chairman Cyrus Mistry said: 'Karl joined us in October 2012 and 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.'

Mr Slym had been hired to revive flagging sales and market share in the domestic business of India's biggest automaker, which is part of the Tata conglomerate.

'His death comes at a time when the company seems to be close to turning the corner, with new designs and a new petrol engine family, which hasn't been Tata's strong point,' said Anil Sharma, an analyst with IHS Automotive.

Tata Motors recently introduced a new petrol engine for its passenger vehicles and has been planning to launch a new hatchback and compact sedan this year, its first new branded passenger vehicles since 2010.

'It (his death) comes before his efforts bear fruit. We should be able to see the results of his work in a year or two,' Sharma said.

Mr Slym led the automaker's operations in India and international markets including South Korea, Thailand and South Africa, excluding the Jaguar and Land Rover luxury unit that it acquired in 2008.

 

Tata Motors had lost traction in its passenger vehicle market as its domestic and foreign rivals rolled out new models while it mostly tweaked existing models and offered heavy price discounts.

The firm has not had a hit car at home since its Indica launch in 1998. Sales of the Nano, the world's cheapest car which it unveiled in 2008, have been lacklustre.

Before joining Tata Motors, Slym was executive vice president of SGMW Motors, China, a General Motors joint venture. Prior to that he had been president, managing director and board member of General Motors in India between 2007 and 2011.