Tata Motors considers further extension of up to a year for CEO Guenter Butschek

Tata Motors is understood to be mulling an option to extend its current CEO, Guenter Butschek's term by another year, it is learnt. Butschek whose 5 year term officially ended in February was persuaded to stay on till June 2021 after
Marc Llistosella who was to take charge as the next CEO&MD from July abruptly declined to do so.

Currently, with only two weeks left for Butschek's extended term to end and no candidate shortlisted yet for the post, Tata Motors have little choice but to ask Butschek to continue, top officials close to the development said .


Egon Zehnider has been mandated to identify a suitable candidate but the search is still on. The company has even considered the possibility of an internal candidate, say officials. Tata Motors said it does not comment on speculation and that it’s the prerogative of the NRC/Board to make this decision.

Identifying a leader to head Tata Motors has always been a challenge to the group for a long time.

" Announcing a leader after a long search who even participated in a meeting and then did not take charge was not a very comfortable situation for the company. Tata Motors has always needed special attention from the group chairman, both current and past . There is a view that the group should focus on building leaders from within the group" said a company official seeking anonymity.

German expat Butschek's 5 year term had earlier ended in February 2021 and Tata Motors had announced another expat.

However, in February the company announced that Llistosella will not be joining as previously stated and Guenter Butschek will continue as MD & CEO till June 2021.

The auto major could also continue with the current segment heads : Shailesh Chandra for the passenger vehicle business, Girish Wagh for the commercial vehicle business and PB Balaji as the CFO, officials say.

Llistosella was the President and CEO of Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation and Head of Daimler Trucks in Asia. He was earlier the MD and CEO of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles. Guenter Butschek is understood to have been keen to relocate to Germany at the end of the contract for personal reasons but was persuaded to stay on a little more until a candidate was shortlisted.

The auto major is currently back on the growth mode after recording years of challenging period.

On the topline front, the company’s performance was rather upbeat as consolidated revenues in the quarter ended March jumped 42 per cent on-year to Rs 88,628 crore, reflecting the favourable base effect. In the year-ago quarter, the company’s sales in India and at JLR suffered due to national lockdown at home, in Europe, the US and China.

The India business reported a 106 per cent year-on-year jump in revenues to Rs 20,046 crore in the March quarter, whereas sales at JLR surged 20.5 per cent to 6.5 billion pound sterling.

The India business also reported a strong operating performance as operating margin expanded 1,370 basis points on-year to 7.8 per cent despite the rise in input costs. Analysts say the company saw continued volume recovery in both businesses in Q4FY21.