Jaguar Land Rover has appointed PB Balaji as its Chief Executive Officer, marking him as the first Indian to occupy the leading role at the prestigious British brand. Balaji replaces Adrian Mardell, who has shown a wish to retire from JLR after three years as CEO and 35 years at the company.

He is now serving as Group CFO of the Tata Group and will assume the role of JLR CEO starting in November this year, according to Tata Motors, the owner of the British brand.

The JLR Board of Directors, during its meeting on August 4, has approved Balaji's appointment to replace Mardell as the CEO of JLR.

Balaji will assume this position starting in November 2025. Mardell will keep assisting with the transition and providing support until his contract concludes.

“I want to express my gratitude to Adrian for the remarkable transformation of JLR and for achieving record results. I am pleased to announce Balaji as the new CEO of the company," states N Chandrasekaran, Chairman - Jaguar Land Rover PLC, Tata Motors and Tata Sons.

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The Board has been searching for an appropriate candidate to head JLR over the past few months, and after a thorough evaluation, the decision was made to appoint Balaji.

“He has been with the company for several years and knows the organization, its strategy, and has collaborated with the JLR leadership team,” Chandrasekaran adds.

Balaji states, "I consider it an honor to guide this amazing company. During the last eight years, I have come to appreciate and cherish this company and its formidable global brands. I am excited to collaborate with the team to elevate it to even higher levels.”

Since November 2017, Balaji has held the position of Group Chief Financial Officer at Tata Motors Group and is a respected global leader with 32 years of expertise in the automotive and consumer goods sectors, focusing on finance and supply chain roles.

He has effectively managed extensive, varied, international teams in multicultural settings from Mumbai, London, Singapore, and Switzerland. He has been intimately involved in the successful transformation at the Tata Motors Group.

 

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He holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Chennai and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM.