Tata-Owned Jaguar Land Rover Appoints First Indian CEO, PB Balaji
Jaguar Land Rover has named PB Balaji as its Chief Executive Officer, the first Indian to hold the top position at the marquee British brand.
Mr Balaji succeeds Adrian Mardell, who has expressed his desire to retire from JLR after three years as CEO and 35 years with the company.
Mr Balaji, who is currently working as Group CFO of the Tata Group, will take over as JLR CEO with effect from November this year, Tata Motors, which owns the British brand, said in a regulatory filing.
The Board of Directors of JLR at its meeting held on August 4, has approved the appointment of Mr Balaji to succeed Mardell as the CEO of JLR, it added.
Mr Balaji will be joining in this role from November 2025. Mardell will continue to help with the transition and support until the end of his contract, it added.
"I would like to thank Adrian for the stellar turnaround of JLR and for delivering record results. I am delighted to appoint Balaji as the incoming CEO of the company," N Chandrasekaran, Chairman - Jaguar Land Rover PLC, Tata Motors and Tata Sons, said.
The search for a suitable candidate to lead JLR was undertaken by the Board for the past few months, and after careful consideration, it was decided to appoint Mr Balaji, he added.
He has been associated with the company for many years and is familiar with the firm, its strategy and has been working with the JLR leadership team, Chandrasekaran said.
"This move will ensure that we continue to accelerate our journey to Reimagine JLR," he added.
Mr Balaji said, "It is my privilege to lead this incredible company. Over the past eight years, I have grown to know and love this company and its redoubtable global brands. I look forward to working with the team to take it to even greater heights".
Mr Balaji has been serving as the Group Chief Financial Officer of the Tata Motors Group since November 2017 and is a well-regarded global leader with 32 years of experience in the automotive and consumer Goods industries across finance and supply chain functions.
He has successfully led large, diverse, global teams in multi-cultural environments out of Mumbai, London, Singapore and Switzerland and has been closely associated with the successful transformation at the Tata Motors Group.
He is a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Chennai and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM.
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