Mumbai, June 5: Tata Motors today appointed executive director Satish Borwankar as its chief operating officer (COO), which coincided with the resignation of Ravindra Pisharody, the head of its commercial vehicle business.

Borwankar, at present the executive director (quality), has been appointed for the newly created post of COO with immediate effect.

His tenure as the executive director will be extended for two years, from July 2017, the company said in a filing to the stock exchanges. Tata Motors, however, did not elaborate on what Borwankar will do in his new role or its tenure.

In an earlier announcement, the company said Pisharody has resigned, citing personal reasons.

Pisharody, among the seniormost in the company's management, has been holding the position of executive director (commercial vehicles) since June 21, 2012.

He had joined Tata Motors as vice-president of commercial vehicles (sales & marketing), in 2007. Before joining Tata Motors, he was with Castrol Ltd, a subsidiary of BP.

He had also worked with Philips India in various roles.

Borwankar, on the other hand, started his career with Tata Motors in 1974, as a graduate engineer trainee.

He has been the executive director (quality) since June 21, 2012. He has held various executive positions, overseeing and implementing product development, manufacturing operations and quality control initiatives of the company's commercial vehicle business unit.

A mechanical engineer from IIT, Kanpur, Borwankar has also played a significant role in setting up greenfield projects of the company.

Truck sales hit

The developments come at a time Tata Motors is witnessing difficult times in the domestic commercial vehicle segment because of various external reasons.

During the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2017, sales of its commercial vehicles, including exports, dropped 4.5 per cent to 109,377 units from 114,522, while it grew only one per cent during the year to 384,359 units.

Tata Motors had explained that the medium and heavy commercial vehicle, or truck, segment was affected by lower replacements and subdued freight demand from industry. Sales were further hit by demonetisation and lower-than-expected pre-buying ahead of the implementation of the BS-IV emission norms.

During 2016-17, while the domestic commercial vehicle industry grew 3.2 per cent, Tata Motors' volumes dipped 0.8 per cent. In May, the company's overall commercial vehicles sales in the domestic market stood at 23,606 units, down 13 per cent from the same month last year.