Eicher Motors Ltd re-appoints Siddhartha Lal as Managing Director

Siddhartha Lal

Eicher Motors Limited announced the re-appointment of Siddhartha Lal as a Managing Director for a further period of five years, effective May 01, 2021.

According to the Company’s exchange filing, “the Board of Directors of the Company at its Meeting held today i.e. August 23, 2021, has re-appointed Mr. Siddhartha Lal (DIN: 00037645) as Managing Director of the Company with effect from May 1, 2021 for a term of 5 years, subject to requisite approvals of the shareholders through postal ballot and the approval of Central Government in terms of Part I of Schedule V of the Companies Act, 2013 (‘the Act’) and subject to such other provisions of the Act and SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015 as may be applicable.”

Speaking about the outcome of the Annual General Meeting and specifically about the remuneration issue, S Sandilya, Chairman of Eicher Motors Ltd said, “The Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) of the Company has considered all the factors, including inputs from various stakeholders including institutional investors before recommending remuneration for key managerial persons. The primary concern with investors was not Siddhartha’s reappointment as Managing Director or the proposed compensation; it was the lack of clarity regarding the enabling provision that potentially allowed payment of remuneration upto 3% of profits. Over the last four years, we have had the same limit of 3%, but in reality have paid only a fraction of that amount. The actual remuneration during FY2021 was at 1.04% of profits, with the preceding years being at a lower percentage”

Siddhartha has also been the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Enfield and the Chairman of VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV); a joint venture between Volvo group and Eicher Motors Ltd. (EML).

From July 2008 to July 2010, Siddhartha was the CEO of VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd (VECV). VECV is the third largest Commercial Vehicles’ (CV) player in India and has ambitions to drive Modernization in commercial transportation and become a leading trucks and buses company in India and emerging world markets.

During 2000-2004, in his tenure as CEO of motorcycle Manufacturer Royal Enfield (a division of EML), Siddhartha helped revive the company’s Fortunes and also strengthened stakeholders’ involvement with the brand. Royal Enfield today is a dominant player in the mid size motorcycle segment in the Country and with its world class products being sold in more than 60 countries, is rapidly growing and gaining market share in overseas markets, the statement said.

Making specific note of Siddhartha’s contribution to the growth of the company, S Sandilya observed, “Siddhartha has been the architect of Eicher Motors’ growth story over the last two decades. When he took over as CEO of Royal Enfield in 2000, the division was making large losses and was slated for closure. Siddhartha has transformed Royal Enfield into a formidable premium motorcycling brand in India, pioneering the leisure riding segment. Royal Enfield grew the premium >250cc market in India exponentially, and has maintained a >90% market share in it for the last decade, resulting in EBITDA margins for EML at over 30% during the pre-pandemic peak. Subsequently Siddhartha moved to the UK in 2015 to personally drive the company’s ambition of becoming the first global premium consumer brand to emerge from India; there he was directly overseeing the product development and international expansion.”

“Going forward, Siddhartha and his team at EML have charted out exciting and robust plans for the future. Royal Enfield, already the global leader in middleweight motorcycles (250cc-750cc), is on the path to growing this segment multi-fold globally and becoming the first global consumer brand to emerge from India. Also, under the chairmanship of Siddhartha, VE Commercial Vehicles is all set to attain new heights by leading the modernization and transformation of India’s commercial vehicle sector”, added Sandilya.

Siddhartha holds a Master’s degree in Automotive Engineering from University of Leeds and is a Cranfield University qualified mechanical engineer. Siddhartha is also an Economics graduate from St. Stephens College in Delhi and an alumnus of The Doon School.

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