Tata Motors’ strategist Vinod Sahay gets poached by Mahindra & Mahindra

India's largest automobile company by sales, Tata Motors will see its first high-profile exit this year as Vinod Sahay, head of sales and marketing for intermediate and medium and heavy commercial vehicles division, has resigned. He will join Mahindra & Mahindra's two-wheelers division in July as chief operating officer, according to an Economic Times report.

A Tata Motors spokeswoman has confirmed the resignation and said he would be replaced by Rajesh Kaul, business head of CVLCV & SCV Cargo.

Sahay is currently serving his notice period and the last working day for him at Tata Motors will be June 30. He is set to take up a senior position at Mahindra & Mahindra's two-wheelers division, people familiar with the development told the financial daily.

Moreover, a Mahindra & Mahindra spokesman said Sahay will join its two-wheelers as chief operating officer in July and will be responsible for sales, marketing, product planning, exports, manufacturing and quality.

According to industry experts, his exit will leave a big void for Tata Motors to fill as Sahay, apart from heading the bigger truck division, was also leading several other strategic initiatives of the commercial vehicles business unit, such as key account management, analytics project, scenario planning, sectorial as well as telematics and loyalty programmes.

His exit happens at a critical time for Tata Motors as the company faces intense competition from the world's top two truck makers, Daimler through its Indian subsidiary Bharat-Benz and Volvo through its joint venture in India with Eicher, as well as the Hinduja group's Ashok Leyland.

Tata Motors has already seen its overall market share fall by 10% in the last few years. However, the company has creditably held on to its high share of 55% in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles space in the past one year.

Sahay successfully led the creation and execution of Tata Motors' turnaround strategy for the light commercial vehicles business in 2003-2005. He is also being credited for insulating the largest region of North from the shock during the recession years of 2008-09.

An alumnus of Symbiosis Institute, Sahay has more than 15 years of experience in the automobile industry in areas of strategy, business management, sales and marketing, product management, and channel management.

(Image: Indiatimes)