Günter Butschek, ex-COO of Airbus and former Daimler man, is Tata Motors' new Managing Director

Tata Motors has a new managing director, after a two-year gap. Günter Butschek (55), ex-COO and an ex-Daimler professional, has now taken the top post at the Indian OEM.

Tata Motors, which has embarked on a turnaround strategy for its passenger vehicle business unit, will look to benefit from Butschek's long stint in the automotive sector as well as his experience of running a big corporation.

The appointment of Günter Butschek reflects Tata Motors' efforts in reviving its passenger vehicle business and further consolidating its leadership position in commercial vehicles in the domestic market, while taking the brand global under both the businesses. The company had appointed former COO of Maruti Suzuki, Mayank Pareek, in September 2014. Pareek is heading Tata Motors' passenger vehicle business unit.

Günter Butschek was the Chief Operating Officer of the Airbus Group from 2012 to December 31, 2014. Mr Butschek had joined Airbus as head of operations in 2011. Mr Butschek spent most of his career at Daimler AG, where he gained more than 25 years of experience in international automotive production, industrialisation and procurement.

He began his professional career in 1984 at Mercedes-Benz AG in Stuttgart, Germany, as Project Engineer Central Material Management. After several positions in logistics, human resources and procurement functions at the Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars division, Butschek became a member of the management board of DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA) with full operational responsibility in 2000.

In 2002 Butschek moved to the Netherlands as president and CEO of Netherlands Car B.V., a contract manufacturer within the global manufacturing network of DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. He successfully managed the restructuring of processes and turnaround programmes with significant improvement in performance, quality and productivity.

In 2005 Günter Butschek took over as president and CEO of Bejing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd, in China. Leading the joint venture, he relocated the operations to an all new state-of-the-art facility and increased productivity and flexibility of the plant. He launched several new production lines for Mercedes, Chrysler and Mitsubishi products and set the footprint for future profitable growth.