TATA MOTORS CHOOSES ITS FINANCE CHIEF TO LEAD JLR

PB Balaji will become CEO when Adrian Mardell retires in November

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JLR's new CEO, taking over in November, will be PB Balaji, presently chief financial officer of parent company Tata Motors.

On 31 July, Autocar broke the news that current CEO Adrian Mardell was retiring after 35 years with the company. Prior to becoming CEO in 2023, Mardell had been JLR's CFO.

The appointment of Balaji suggests Tata wants more say over JLR's direction of travel, having let the firm operate at arms' length since buying it in 2008.

"It's a harbinger of tighter Tata financial control as the firm enters choppy waters amid the shift to EVs, Trump tariffs etc," David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham Business School, told Autocar.

By picking Balaji (known universally by his surname only), Tata has put in place an executive pivotal to the entire Tata organisation. Balaji holds board seats on Air India, Tata Consumer Products and battery company Agratas.

Balaji joined Tata Motors in 2017 from consumer goods giant Unilever, making Tata his first and only automotive berth.

However, the Indian is clearly respected in the role, as his ringmaster position in the company's quarterly earnings calls shows. Balaji fields the submitted questions from analysts deftly, swiftly dismissing repeated ones and assigning the better ones to relevant division heads, whether for JLR, Tata Commercial Vehicles or Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles.

'OVEN-READY' CEO

From one point of view, Balaji is a safe choice. In times of turmoil such as the automotive industry is currently facing, companies often turn to CFOs for leadership to ensure the finances are storm-proof.

Mardell's three years of profitable JLR leadership after he was promoted from the firm's CFO role proves that you don't need engineering-born 'car guys' to be successful at the top.