Long Serving Ravi Kant retires as Tata Motors Limited Vice Chairman

Mumbai, 3 June-2014,MG Arun(PTI): Ravi Kant, who played an instrumental role in Tata Motors’ acquisition of marquee British brands Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 and their integration and turnaround since then, has retired from the company. Kant retired as Non-Executive Vice Chairman from the Tata Motors Board on May 31, 2014 on reaching 70 years age as per the company’s retirement policy, it said in a media release Monday.

Long Serving Ravi Kant retires as Tata Motors Limited Vice Chairman

Kant was Managing Director of Tata Motors for the period from July 29, 2005 to June 1, 2009, following which he became its Vice Chairman.

In July 2010, Kant was appointed advisor to Jaguar Land Rover. He had been performing a key function in overseeing and coordinating the operations of Jaguar Land Rover and also reviewing its manufacturing processes, resulting in substantial cost reduction and rationalisation of platforms, the company had said earlier. Initiatives had also been taken on joint development programmes for engines, vehicles and platforms which would leverage skills of Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, resulting in synergies in operations of the two, and yielding substantial savings in the operations. “On behalf of the Board and Tata Motors, I would like to thank Ravi for his valuable contribution in the growth and development of the company. I wish him all the best for the future,” Cyrus P Mistry, Chairman, Tata Sons and Tata Motors said.

However, Tata Motors’ March quarter performance was disappointing, with its net revenue and profit dropping below analysts’ expectations both for the domestic entity and for JLR. Tata Motor’s net profit fell 0.7 per cent to Rs.3,918 crore due to lower than expected performance from JLR. JLR’s profit grew just 19 per cent from a year ago, compared to analysts’ expectations of 40 per cent. Shares of Tata Motors were up 1.36 per cent on the BSE on Monday to close at Rs.421.10.