Boss Of Indian Car Giant Tata Dies 'in Fall From Hotel Balcony' On Business Trip To Bangkok

[Boo Radley]

 

The British boss of Indian car giant Tata Motors has died after falling from a hotel in Bangkok.

Karl Slym, 51, was discovered at the foot of the towering Shangri-La hotel in the city’s upmarket Yannawa district yesterday morning after falling from his 22nd floor bedroom.

The executive, originally from Derby, had checked into the five-star hotel with British wife Sally on Friday and had been due to check out yesterday.

An unconfirmed report in Thailand claimed police found a suicide note in the room. It added that his wife was being treated for shock. But sources close to the company have told India’s Economic Times that Mr Slym’s death was the result of an accident after he ‘lost his balance’ and fell from his hotel room window.

Police have launched an investigation into his death and a post-mortem examination will be carried out in Bangkok today.

Mr Slym joined ailing Tata Motors in 2012, giving up the role of executive vice-president of SGMW Motors China, a General Motors joint venture. He had headed General Motors in India before that.

He was head-hunted for Mumbai to overhaul Tata’s lacklustre manufacturing, sales and distribution operations, including the ultra-cheap Nano car.

As well as being in charge of the car maker’s operations in India, Mr Slym was responsible for Tata Motors’ interests in South Korea, Thailand and South Africa. He had travelled to Bangkok to attend a board meeting of Tata Motors’ Thailand unit.

He had recently announced a huge retirement programme that would lead to thousands of job losses. Last night, Tata Motors chairman Cyrus Mistry paid tribute to Mr Slym and offered his sympathies to his family. He said: ‘Karl joined us in October 2012 and was a valued colleague, who was providing strong leadership at a challenging time for the Indian auto industry.

‘In this hour of grief, our thoughts are with Karl’s wife and family.’

A spokesman said the company ‘deeply regrets to announce the untimely and tragic death of Mr Slym’. Renault India executive director Sumit Sawhney said: ‘It’s a big personal loss. He was a close friend. We were like family members. It’s really sad. He was one of those people who would go out of their way to help out a friend.’

A car industry analyst said Mr Slym had been instrumental in leading Tata Motors out of its troubles.

The firm recently brought out a new petrol engine and is planning to launch new hatchback and saloon models later this year.

Anil Sharma, of HIS Automotive, said: ‘His death comes before his efforts bear fruit. We should be able to see the results of his work in a year or two.’

Born and raised in Derby, Mr Slym remained a loyal fan of Derby County Football Club despite a flourishing career that saw him travel around the world.

He and his wife have lived in seven different countries.

However, he told Forbes India that the couple had found it difficult to settle in there.

‘Both my wife and I have said that India is the most difficult country to get used to. There are some things you fight and you don’t accept when you get here,’ he said.

‘Normally, it takes two to three weeks to set up our house and start living a normal life. But here it took probably two months before our set-up became OK.

‘We do immerse ourselves. We have one house in the world and that’s in India. We don’t have my wife going to her hometown every six months.’

Tata Motors is part of the vast business empire controlled by India’s Tata family, an entrepreneurial dynasty with interests in everything from retail to steel-making.

The Mumbai-headquartered firm employs 60,000 staff and racked up sales of £21billion in the financial year 2012/13, making it India’s biggest car manufacturer.

http://www.thairath.co.th/content/oversea/399088

http://www.dailymail...ip-Bangkok.html (26/01/14)

[Coss]

Not the usual candidate profile for the Bangkok Plunge...

[Plainsdrifter]

I had to double check that the fall didn't, in fact, occur in Pattaya.

 

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

"an accident after he ‘lost his balance’ and fell from his hotel room window." So just what was he doing in that window?

[WorldFun]

a tad unusual indeed and normally most 5* hotels make it pretty hard or near impossible to jump out from windows/balconys?

I dont have personal experiences at that shangrila though...

[Boo Radley]

 

Photo of the balcony at the Shangrila Hotel, BKK. Looks fairly high.

[Boo Radley]

Tata Motors MD left 'suicide note': Thai police

BANGKOK, January 27, 2014 (AFP) - A top executive of India's Tata Motors who plunged from the 22nd floor of an upscale Bangkok hotel left an apparent suicide note, Thai police said Monday.

Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym, 51, died early Sunday at the Shangri-La Hotel in the Thai capital where he was attending a board meeting, the company has confirmed.

"Initially, we can only assume that he committed suicide", Thai Police Lieutenant Somyot Boonnakaew told AFP.

"The window was small and he had to try hard to get through it."

The apparent suicide letter, found at the scene, has been sent for analysis to confirm it was written by Slym, he said.

Police believe his wife was in the room at the time of his death but said she was too "shocked" to answer questions on Monday.

"She still cannot accept what has happened," said Somyot, adding the executive's body was with forensic scientists.

Slym's body was found by staff on a fourth floor balcony at the five-star $200-a-night hotel, which said the "circumstances of the accident are under review by authorities."

On Sunday the carmaker said he had died in a fall, while Indian press reports said Slym may have lost his balance and plunged to his death.

The Briton had been Tata's managing director since joining the country's leading car making group in 2012.

In November Tata Motors, part of the giant steel-to-software Tata Group, said its quarterly net profit surged by 71 percent on the back of booming sales of its British luxury marque Jaguar Land Rover.

Slym had led Tata's operations in India and international markets, excluding the Jaguar and Land Rover businesses.

At midday trading in Mumbai, the stock was down 16 rupees to 354.50 rupees, a fall of 4.32 percent while the main Bombay Stock Exchange index was down 356.75 points at 20,776.81.

Explaining the stock drop, an analyst in Mumbai said the death of the Stanford University graduate could raise fears over the "timeline for new projects."

"In addition, the market is down today in general. So the stock is getting hammered," said an analyst who did not wish to be named.

Slym had previously been executive vice president of SGMW Motors, China, a General Motors joint venture, and been president of General Motors in India.

In a statement late Sunday Tata chairman Cyrus P Mistry paid tribute to "valued colleague".

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/thai-police-say-tata/969632.html (27/01/14)

[Coss]

I blame the little prissy coffee table, I'm always tripping over furniture made for hobbits...

[Flashermac]

Well, you are from Middle Earth.

[YimSiam]

Okay, things have gone from strange to stranger: a death-by-falling that was neither in Bangkok nor Pattaya... I didn't even know London gravity could get a man up and out of a window accidentally, thought that was a SEAsia plate tectonics thing only - and to fall on iron stakes? Horrible.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/10/london-property-tycoon-scot-young-dies-falling-railings

 

YimSiam