Jaguar Land Rover to Get First Indian CEO

Tata Motors Group CFO PB Balaji will take over as the CEO of British brand Jaguar Land Rover from November this year. In this way, he will become the first Indian to hold the executive position of these luxury car companies.

PB Balaji will replace Adrian Mardel, who has expressed his desire to retire from JLR after spending three years as CEO and 35 years with the company.

There have been four CEOs since the acquisition of these brands in 2008, but none of them is Indian. David Smith was the CEO between 2008 and 2010, and he was followed by Ralph Speth from 2010 to 2020. Former Renault CEO Thierry Bollore was the CEO between 2020 and 2022, after which Mardel took over.

Balaji has been serving as Tata Motors' chief financial officer (CFO) since November 2017 and has a cumulative experience of 32 years in the automotive and consumer goods industry, including finance and supply chain functions. He has led large, diverse, global teams in multi-cultural environments such as Mumbai, London, Singapore and Switzerland and has been closely associated with the successful transformation of the Tata Motors Group, the Indian auto major said in a statement.

N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Jaguar Land Rover PLC, Tata Motors and Tata Sons, said, "I am delighted to appoint Balaji as the company's incoming CEO. The search for a suitable candidate to lead JLR was being undertaken by the Board over the last few months and the decision to appoint Balaji was taken after careful deliberation."

He further added, "He has been associated with the company for the last several years and is familiar with the company, its strategy and working with the JLR leadership team. This move will ensure that we continue to accelerate our journey to reimagine JLR."

Balaji said that over the past eight years he has come to know and love the company and the global brands. “I look forward to working with the team to take it to even greater heights. I thank Adrian for his immense contribution and wish him all the best for his next tenure.”

The newly elected CEO holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Chennai and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Kolkata.

Mardell said JLR is poised for strong growth in the years to come. “These three years have been a great honour for us. Together with JLR’s incredible workforce, we have strengthened JLR’s position in the automotive industry at a time of incredible change. I thank everyone at JLR and the Tata Group, and wish Balaji every success in his new role.
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