Tragedy struck weekend at one of the world’s major auto makers, Tata Motors, following the sudden death of the Managing Director, Mr. Karl Slym, after falling from the 22nd floor of the five-star Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mr. Slym, a British-born expert, was hired in October 2012 to turn around the ailing fortunes of the Indian carmaker. The 51-year-old died late Saturday night after the fall attributed to loss of balance. He was staying in the city while attending a directors’ board meeting for Tata Motors’ Thai arm. A Tata spokesman said police are due to conduct a post-mortem today.

Cyrus Mistry, chairman of Tata Motors, said in a statement: “Tata Motors deeply regrets to announce the untimely and tragic demise of its Managing Director, Karl Slym, in Bangkok earlier today. Karl Slym was in Bangkok to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors of Tata Motors Thailand Ltd.

“Karl Slym joined Tata Motors in October 2012, and was providing leadership to the company through a challenging market environment. The company shares in the grief of Karl Slym’s wife and family at their irreparable loss.”

According to a report this morning in Daily Telegraph UK, “Before joining Tata Motors, Mr. Slym had worked for General Motors for 17 years, serving as the president of the company’s Indian operation between 2007-2011 and as executive vice president of SGWM Motors, a GM joint venture company, in China in 2011-2012.

“In December 2012, Tata Motors reported a 28pc drop in sales despite a passenger vehicle industry growth of 8.37pc. The company’s market share also fell from 14.16pc to 12.66pc over the year.

“Mr. Slym had pledged to earmark Rs15,000 crore (£1.4bn) over the next three years to revive the company after identifying key problem areas in January 2013.”

•Photo of late Tata Motirs MD Karl Slym courtesy Daily Telegraph UK.