Tata Motors has roped in Carl-Peter Forster, head of General Motors, Europe and has

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appointed him as the group chief executive officer of the company.

“Carl-Peter Forster will have the overall responsibility of Tata Motors operations globally, including Jaguar Land Rover,” the company said in a statement on Monday. In a way, Forster will also oversee India operations, headed by Prakash M Telang, managing director — India operations.

Forster was among the top contenders for the job at Tata Motors, after General Motors announced in early November 2009 that he was leaving GM Europe. Reports said that Forster left GM Europe after publicly disagreeing with the way the company handled the aborted sale of Opel and Vauxhall to Magna International.

Before joining General Motors in 2001, Forster has had 13 years of experience in BMW, where he held various positions including that of managing director of BMW South Africa and was also on the managing board of BMW. An international news portal, Autoblog said, “It will be something of a homecoming for Forster who was born and raised in London. Forster also ran production at BMW when it owned the late Rover Group.”

“Forster’s appointment at Tata Motors is expected to bring in synergy between its international and domestic operations and help in improving the productivity and efficiency of the company,” said Mitul Shah, automobile analyst, First Global.

Another expert with an international rating age-ncy said, “Since majority of revenue for Tata Motors comes from European operations, a person having experience of working in the international market, including Europe, will be an advantage for the company.”

After the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover and Hispano Carrocera SA, the Spanish luxury bus manufacturing company, Tata Motors was looking for a suitable individual with international experience, who can bring in better coordination between international as well as domestic subsidiaries, in passenger and commercial vehicle segment, another expert, on condition of anonymity said.

Tata Motors on Monday said its global sales jumped by 93 per cent in January to 85,714 units, on the back of robust demand for both commercial and passenger vehicles.

The company also said Jaguar Land Rover global sales in January 2010 were 16,269 vehicles, higher by 195 per cent. Jaguar sales for the month were 2,974, higher by 122 per cent, while Land Rover sales were 13,295, higher by 219 per cent over period last year, Tata Motors said in a released issued on Monday.

The release further stated that cumulative sales of Jaguar Land Rover for the fiscal were lower by 20 per cent to 1,53,247 units. Cumulative sales of Jaguar are 39,484 units, lower by 30 per cent, while cumulative sales of Land Rover are 1,13,763 units, lower by 16 per cent, it said.