Jolt to Tata Motors as commercial vehicles head Pisharody resigns

Ravindra Pisharody has resigned as Executive Director (Commercial Vehicles) of Tata Motors, a move that has shocked people within the company.

“It has come as a huge surprise. None of us really expected something like this to happen,” said an executive who did not wish to be named.

In a filing to the BSE on Monday evening, Tata Motors said Pisharody was quitting “due to personal reasons” and would “continue to serve the company until further notice”. It added that Satish Borwankar has been appointed Chief Operating Officer while his tenure as Executive Director has been extended by two years.

While Borwankar is a Tata Motors veteran who has worked there for over decades, Pisharody joined the company in 2007 before being elevated as ED five years later. He is stepping down at a time when Tata Motors has been losing market share in commercial vehicles, naturally leading people within to wonder if this was a “forced exit”.

While there is a feeling within the industry that the company is losing its grip in the medium and heavy CV space, this perceived vulnerability is in sharp contrast to the aggression shown by its rival, Ashok Leyland, which has been building up numbers quickly. The gap between the two is still significant, but has been narrowing down in recent times.

“The aura of invincibility that characterised Tata Motors is no longer present with players like Leyland and BharatBenz showing greater intent and aggression,” says an industry source. What is even more disturbing, he adds, is that the market leader just did not seem to have any clue on how to address the issue.

In more recent times, Tata Motors was caught unawares during the transition to Bharat Stage IV emission norms when the Supreme Court decided to ban registration of BS III vehicles from April 1. Other truck players were also affected badly and there were huge inventory losses to reckon with. In the case of Tata Motors, a declining market share combined with the Supreme Court verdict just ended up being a double whammy.

Were these the reasons that prompted Pisharody to call it a day or did he have little choice in the matter? Those who have worked with him describe him as a “perfect gentleman who perhaps was not aggressive enough”. He had spent a decade in the company, a tenure which also saw two successive slowdown years between 2012 and 2014.

It is also likely that Pisharody’s decision goes in line with the new-look Tata Motors, which recently revamped its management reporting structure. The huge hierarchical model of 14 layers gave way to just five where a flatter organisation would now ensure quicker decision-making and greater employee accountability. Driving the change is Guenter Butschek, Managing Director, who has also spearheaded key initiatives like the Volkswagen car alliance.

As part of this recast, Girish Wagh, who headed project planning at passenger cars, moved to the CV side. He will clearly have more on his plate now with Pisharody’s exit. It also remains to be seen if Borwankar will shuffle managerial responsibilities as the company strives to gain lost ground in its bread-and-butter truck business.

“There is no question that things aren’t quite the same anymore, but then it is a matter of survival in today’s highly competitive times. Gone are the days of taking things easy as market leader,” says a Tata Motors executive. Yet, there is no playing down the fact that a top exit like Pisharody’s can cause a great deal of anxiety and unrest within an organisation.

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