Ralf Speth

Sir Ralf Dieter Speth, KBE FRS, (born 9 September 1955 in Roth, Bavaria)[1] is a British-German automotive executive, currently chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover,[2] following previous roles with BMW, Linde and Ford's Premier Automotive Group.

Sir Ralf Speth

KBE FRS
Ralf Speth at the unveiling of the 2012 Range Rover
Born
Ralf Dieter Speth

(1955-09-09) 9 September 1955
Roth, Bavaria, West Germany
(now Germany)
NationalityBritish, German
Alma materWarwick Manufacturing Group
OccupationAutomotive Industry
Known forChief Executive Officer, Jaguar Land Rover

Education

Speth was awarded a degree in Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim, Germany. He later undertook a Doctorate of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration at The University of Warwick.[3]

Career

Speth started his automotive career with BMW in 1980 and worked for them for twenty years.[4]

In 2002, he joined The Linde Group and served as Head of Global Operations and as Vice President of Operations. He was also Chief Operating Officer and Member of Executive Board at its subsidiary KION Group GmbH.[5]

In 2007, Speth returned to the car industry and joined Ford Motor Company's Premier Automotive Group (PAG) as Director of Production, Quality and Product Planning. Following the sale of two of the PAG marques, Jaguar and Land Rover, to Tata, he became Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in February 2010, and a Non-Executive Director of Tata Motors in November 2010.[6]

Under Speth's management, JLR has increased the company's workforce significantly. "We have added more than 17,000 people in the course of the last five years," he said in an interview published in June 2015.[7] Speth champions the need for R&D and makes much of JLR's investment in R&D. "I guess we are the biggest R&D investor in the UK in the automotive business," he claims.

In 2015 Special Honours list, Speth was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the automotive industry.[8] In August 2019, the award was made Substantive following Speth becoming a British citizen.[9] [10]

In September 2016, Speth was appointed as an Honorary Professor, having previously been an Industrial Professor. Professor Dr Speth was a graduate of the University of Warwick with an Engineering Doctorate from the University for his engineering research and study at the Warwick Manufacturing Group.[11]

On 25 October 2016, Speth was appointed as an additional director on the board of Tata Sons.[12] On 30 January 2020 he announced his intention to retire from his role as CEO of Jaguar Land Rover effective September 2020, but will remain on both the JLR plc and Tata Sons boards.[13] He will enter into a non-executive role in the company and will be succeeded by the CEO of Renault, Thierry Bolloré.[14]

Personal life

He is married, with two children, and lives between Leamington Spa and Munich.[15]

References
  1. "Dr Ralf Speth,Chief Executive Officer". Design Council. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  2. "Dr. Ralf D. Speth, Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar LandRover Limited, poses next to a new Jaguar F-Type". Driving.ca. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  3. "Ralf D. Speth". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  4. "Dr Ralf Speth, CEO Jaguar Land Rover". Design Council. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  5. "Ralf Speth: Resurgent Jaguar Land Rover shifts up a gear". The Independent. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  6. "Ralf D. Speth". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  7. "R&D Investment Makes Good Business Sense". Ingenia. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  8. "Honorary British awards to foreign nationals - 2015" (pdf). GOV.UK. 26 March 2015.
  9. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3357983
  10. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/future-jaguar-land-rover-according-ceo-ralf-speth
  11. "Two senior Jaguar Land Rover staff become Professors at WMG". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  12. Ralf Speth, N. Chandrasekaran join Tata Sons Board
  13. https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/jlr-ceo-ralf-speth-to-retire-in-sep-tata-motors-120013000369_1.html
  14. Tovey, Alan (28 July 2020). "Jaguar Land Rover names former Renault boss Thierry Bolloré as new chief". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  15. "JLR chief: Car industry 'most complex on earth'". The Telegraph. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
Business positions
Preceded by
 CEO of Jaguar Land Rover
2010–2020		 Incumbent
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