Who was Karl Slym?

Karl Slym was the Managing Director of Tata Motors from 2012 to 2014. He led all operations of Tata Motors in India and international markets, including South Korea, Thailand, Spain, Indonesia and South Africa. He was a British by Birth.

He was appointed as the MD of Tata Motors in August 2012 and took over the charge on September 13 of the same year. He was responsible for charting out the company’s strategy to regain momentum in the domestic market.

He was born in Derby, England on February 9 1962. He passed away on January 26, 2014 after falling from a Hotel Floor in Bangkok.

Also Read: Tata Motors MD Karl Slym dies after falling from Hotel in Bangkok

Before joining Tata Motors, Slym was the Executive Vice-President and board member of SGMW Motors, a three-way joint venture among China’s SAIC Motor Corporation, Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co Ltd and General Motors. Before that he was President, Managing Director and Board Member of General Motors in India.

Karl Slym was an alumnus of Stanford University and a Sloan Fellow. Slym was awarded a Sloan Fellowship from GM and in 2002 earned a master of science degree in business administration from Stanford University. He graduated in 1984 from his post-secondary education in production engineering at England’s Derby University.

He started his career at Toyota U.K. in Derbyshire, moved to General Motors in 1995, and since then has held various roles across geographies like director of manufacturing at Gliwice, Poland. He then went to GM in the US and Canada and later became head of quality, APAC-Seoul, following which he moved to India at its country head.

He laos served as president and a member of the board of directors of CAMI Automotive General Motors’ Canadian joint venture with Suzuki Motor Manufacturing Corporation since September 2002.

In his Twitter Biography, he identified himself as “Britisher who just can’t stay away from India!! Crazy for most sports and loves to know what’s going on everywhere!! And hearing from everyone!! ”