Crunch Time
When 53 year old Natarajan Chandrasekaran took charge as Tata Sons chairman in February this year, he perhaps knew the job wasn't a bed of roses. He also most likely knew that one of the big thorns was Tata Motors, a once dominant player struggling to arrest a debilitating slide. At his first annual general meeting (AGM) of Tata Motors in August, just six months after taking over, he got a taste of the disgruntlement among shareholders. For 2016/17, Tata Motor's India operations reported a net loss of `2,480 crore, after a loss of `62 crore in 2015/16.
Lack of dividend in the last fiscal might have been one source of shareholder anger but more alarming was the sense of gloom. The atmosphere was toxic. Chandrasekaran faced questions ranging from whether the company was trying hard enough and should it still be making cars to the future of Nano and JLR Chief Executive Ralf Speth's salary. One shareholder said it was a "failed company."
Chandrasekaran remained unfazed and flat batted most volleys but the firm's German Chief Executive Guenter Butschek knew he would not be able to endure another AGM like that. The picture of the 57 year old on Tata Motors' website has him formally dressed, but he is dressed casually on both occasions that we meet him. He admits he isn't a fan of necktie and tries to avoid it as much as possible. "It is a bit stifling, to be honest," he grins.
Butschek isn't new to either the automotive industry (he spent 25 years at Daimler AG) or turnarounds. Before joining Tata Motors, he was involved in a massive restructuring at Airbus. But the man,
