Forster CEO Of Tata
Last November, we reported that Carl-Peter Forster had stepped down as CEO of General Motors Europe, in protest over GM’s interruptus of the Opel/Magna deal. We also reported that Forster may take a job at Tata in India. All in due time …
Today, Financial Times reports that Tata “has named Carl-Peter Forster, the former head of General Motors’ European operations, as its chief executive officer.”
Tata says the job is the full monte. It entails “overall responsibility of Tata Motors’ operation globally.” The Financial Times could not help itself and added “including its lossmaking UK-based Jaguar Land Rover operation.”
Forster had been in play as a possible new president of Jaguar Land Rover, whose chief executive, David Smith, stepped down last month. Instead, Tata liked Foster so much that they gave him the whole company to run.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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very smart move by Tata.
I know there's a good "Indian Outsourcing" joke in this news, but I can't make it happen. Help?
Tata motors has some severe quality problems for a company with a proud name and ambitions. I don't see them doing much on the export front in the next five years either. That being said, Tata Motors does have a bright future for truck and bus manufacturing -- which provides the bulk of the revenue. And I don't see why Forster is such a good hire. Opel has not been impressive lately. And what does he know about the heavy vehicle market?
Brilliant move by Tata. This will help ensure a culture of managemental entitlement, and complete incompetence, followed by big golden parachutes and collapse. "Indian outsourcing" joke? I got one, but there's nothing funny about it. There once was an Indian who built a large car/truck/bus business. One day, he lost his mind and decided to see how quickly he could ruin his life's work. He couldn't find anyone in India with the requisite experience. He looked to the old colonial masters for wisdom, but all the Leyland people were dead. He then remembered that no-one can breed failure quite like GM... GM management would ruin the discovery of a unicorn that urinates a cure for cancer and aids, and craps platinum.