New CEO Balaji Expected to Steady JLR Amid Global Turmoil

With Balaji as CFO, Tata Motors saw a turnaround in its fortunes, becoming net cash positive

- Ayaan Kartik

Tata Group chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran is known as someone who trusts his inner circle of leaders to accomplish the task he has assigned them.

The announcement of group chief financial officer of Tata Motors P.B. Balaji as the new chief executive officer of British luxury brand Jaguar Land Rover, effective November, is an illustration of the long-running instinct of the 62-year-old chairperson of the salt-to-steel conglomerate.

Late on Monday night, the news of the appointment of Balaji emerged just days after it was known that the current chief executive officer (CEO) Adrian Mardell was on his way out. Mardell was JLR's finance chief before taking over as its CEO. Balaji will be JLR's first Indian CEO.

Although Mardell's decision to retire became public just two months after the automaker assured investors that its growth journey was on track, Chandrasekaran's statement on the appointment of Balaji as the new helmsman suggested that a search was on for a few months.