JLR CEO Ralf Speth to retire in September: Tata Motors

MUMBAI: Ralf Speth, the chief executive of Tata Motors' subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover will step down from his role at the end of his contract term in September this year after over 10 years at the helm of the British company.

Speth will move on to the role of a non-executive vice-chairman and will continue to be a member of Tata Sons' board, according to a statement from Tata Motors.

The luxury-car maker is considering tanker giant Maersk's former CEO Hanne Sorensena as a possible replacement to Speth, Financial Times reported.


"Ralf developed Jaguar Land Rover from a niche UK centric manufacturer to a respected, technological leading, global premium company," said N Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover.

Jaguar Land Rover has been witnessing declining sales led by a slump in its largest market - China. It reported a 5.9% decline in its global retail in 2019 to 557,706 vehicles. Sales in China declined by 13.5%. It was the third straight year of sales degrowth for JLR.

But there have been signs of a turnaround for the company in the latter half of 2019 with December registering a 26.3% growth in China culminating into an overall sales growth of 1.3%.

Multiple rating agencies have over the past year downgraded the ratings of both JLR and Tata Motors citing poor sales performance. Uncertainty around Brexit did not help the carmaker's case. JLR has five manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom, including an engine making plant.

Chandrasekaran said in a statement that the parent company has formed a search committee to find Speth's successor.