Tata Motors Managing Director Dies in Apparent Suicide
Tata Motors Managing Director Karl Slym, 51, fell to his death from the 22nd floor of his Bankok hotel last week. His body was discovered on a fourth floor balcony by hotel staff and Police discovered a multiple-page suicide letter in his hotel room. Slym was in the Thai capital to attend a board meeting for Tata Motors Thailand Ltd.
"Initially, we can only assume that he committed suicide," said Police Lt. Col. Somyot Boonnakaew. "The window was small and he had to make an effort to get through." The alleged suicide letter, found in the room, was sent for analysis to verify that it is his writing, he added.
Police believe Slym’s wife Sally was in the room at the time of his death, but was initially too shocked to answer any questions from investigators. She later said that the couple had been having marital problems.
Karl Slym had joined Tata Motors in 2012 and was responsible for operations in India and internationally, excluding Jaguar Land Rover. He was in the process of overseeing a huge product overhaul for Tata including a new gasoline engine as well as a new hatchback and sedan later this year. Tata has been struggling of late and recently dropped to the third-largest automaker in India.
Tata Motors was also set to launch a vehicle that can run entirely on compressed air. The environmentally friendly car is going to cost only about $8,000 and have a range of nearly 200km on air alone. It was supposed to have been launched by the end of 2012 but has been delayed.
The untimely death of Tata’s GM shortly before the imminent launch of a green car that has the ability to revolutionize the automobile industry is sure to have some questioning the circumstances of his death.