Jaguar Land Rover has named P.B. Balaji as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), making him the first Indian to hold the top position at the marquee British brand. Balaji succeeds Adrian Mardell, who has expressed his desire to retire from JLR after three years as CEO and 35 years with the company.
Currently working as Group CFO of the Tata Group, Balaji will take over as JLR CEO with effect from November this year, Tata Motors, the parent company of the British luxury carmaker, said in a regulatory filing.
Indian at the top of JLR
The Board of Directors of JLR at its meeting held on August 4, has approved the appointment of Balaji to succeed Mardell as the CEO of JLR, it added. 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, stated in a press release.
Chandrasekaran said that the search for a suitable candidate to lead JLR was undertaken by the Board for the past few months, and after careful consideration the Board of Directors confirmed Balaji as the successor to Mardell. Balaji 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, he added.
He further added that this move would help the company continue accelerating their journey to Reimagine JLR. Balaji mentioned that it was a privilege for him to lead such an incredible company. He added that, over the past eight years, he had come to know and love the company and its strong global brands, and expressed his eagerness to work with the team to take it to even greater heights.
P.B. Balaji: Brief background
A B.Tech Mechanical Engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, 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 started his career at Unilever in 1995, where he held different senior positions in corporate finance and supply chain in India, Singapore, UK, and Switzerland. Prior to joining Tata Motors, Mr. Balaji was the Chief Financial Officer of Hindustan Unilever Limited. 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.
