Timothy Leverton, president and chief technical officer of Tata Motors and the man who has overseen many of the company's new launches and development of new technologies, has quit.
“Tim Leverton has decided to disengage from his services in the organisation and he wishes to relocate back to UK for personal reasons," the Tata Group company said on Monday.
Leverton joined Tata Motors in 2010 and played a major role in the development of new generation engines and products like the Tiago, Zest, Hexa, Tigor and the soon to be launched Nexon compact SUV. Based out of Pune, he also oversaw the development of electric and hybrid vehicle technologies at Tata Motors.
His exit comes at a time when Tata Motors has undertaken a major overhaul in its domestic operations as it looks to turn profitable.
"It is indeed a loss that he has decided to leave and move back to UK for personal reasons. Tim has actively led the research and development initiatives of Tata Motors and we thank him for his invaluable contribution," Guenter Butschek CEO and MD of Tata Motors said.
Tata Motors has seen several high profile managers leaving the company this year. Ravi Pisharody, executive director (commercial vehicles), resigned in June. The company's group chief financial officer C. Ramakrishnan is also leaving—he will be retiring at the end of September.
Tata Motors had, last month, appointed P. Balaji, formerly CFO at fast moving consumer goods major Hindustan Unilever, as Ramakrishnan's replacement.
Leverton will be with Tata Motors till October 31. His successor will be announced in due course of time, the company added.
After a lack of new launches led to the company losing market share in the domestic passenger vehicle market, Tata Motors has seen a good demand for its launches over the past one year, like the Tiago Hatchback, Tigor Styleback and the Hexa SUV. The Nexon compact SUV launching soon is also expected to do well.
Furthermore, Tata Motors has already said it has a product roadmap in place till 2022. It has set a target to become the third largest player in the country's passenger vehicle market in the next few years.
Tata Motors shares ended down 1.6 per cent at 384.40 on the BSE on Monday; the broader Sensex declined 190 points or 0.6 per cent to 31,702.25.
