[rajneeesh]

Pratap Bose has been with Tata Motors for over 14 years. While the new design philosophy has contributed to the turn around, there have been all round changes in engineering as well. In all big organisations, there is a team which does the job. Pratap Seems to have cultivated an image in the media that it is he who is responsible for the turn around.

What about the Tata designs that did not do too well till 3 years back. Bose was still a senior resource.

To me it seems that he is moving on at what he sees is the peak of his career with Tata Motors and cashing on the recent success for personal growth and gratification.

Lastly, unless you are a design house ( like Bertone , Pininfarina etc) I have not seen the Head of design get the top position in any Auto major. Tata Motors has a big commercial vehicle business, they have JLR. Is he the right person for that kind of a position? There may be a number of people within the organisation across functions who will fret if they are bypassed. That is one reason why they may be getting an outsider with proven global credentials.

[aniketi]

Being a good designer is one thing and to be a MD or CEO of any big company is different. It's a different ball game altogether. As a CEO or MD, one has to manage so many things including HR, Admin, Safety, Vendor management, Purchase & what not. So no point in talking like this in my opinion. He was a good designer for sure, not sure he was really interested in top management role.

If he goes to some management role, we surely will miss a good automobile designer. One can't give time to other things once you accept senior management job.

[DicKy]

That is a shocker, but people do come and go in companies. Not really a problem.

Don't know if it's his social media presence and all, but he did manage to create an image for himself. Which, except for the absolute top tier management in our home grown companies is an achievement.

More curious as to which competitor he is going to. Mahindra has already frozen the designs for their next generation of cars and are all set for half a decade. Maruti/ Suzuki are months away from launching their next gen of models. Hyundai doesn't really need any help as everything happens in S.Korea. Hope he is joining an European company.

Just don't say the better opportunities means a design studio set up by himself.

[srh]

I agree that PB was over rated. All those cuts & creases on the outside are a pain to clean. The choice of textures & colours & plastic gloss on the inside makes it a nightmare to maintain. The protruding dashboards create obstructions in the footwell. Access to ports is pathetic. It is clearly a case of form over function/ substance.

And you don't make a designer the MD of an automobile company. A designer can't even engineer/ develop. Forget anything beyond that.A MD needs experience in many more domains than just design.

[turbo]

As someone who disliked both him and Tata, them working together was ideal for me.

Now I just hope he doesnt end up at one of the companies that I like (Skoda, VW, Maruti or Mahindra)

[RavSam]

I have been to the Mahindra Design Studio for a day and let me tell you that appreciating just the Design Director is like appreciating just the Director of a Brilliant film.

Just like actors, costume and effect designers, make up artists, sound engineers and others contribute to an awesome film, there are hundreds of people involved in designing a car. A designer to just design the "name badge".

Yes, the director oversees all the process and is himself involved too but he is definitely not the lone warrior.

We must accept the change. All the best to both of them.

[catchjyoti]

Pratap Bose was a huge positive influence on Tata Motors. My guess is he had largely done what he could do at Tata Motors and wanted leave on a high. Best of luck to him on his next venture. And best of luck to Tata Motors under the new Design Head.

[pradeep_mvpa]

While I agree that car design is a team work, leader is the one who gives right direction to the team. TATA needed those impactful design that make their cars stand out in the crowd. I believe he did that job with perfection.

But not everyone is a fan of this design language. For example, Nexon looks great from front, it gives a hatchback like feel from other angles.

TATA can actually work out this leadership change in their favour. They can move in a direction that will make their cars look more European which will attract more buyers.

[Kosfactor]

I think it is Karl Slym who set the ball rolling for whatever we now see as the new Tata motors, short lived that man was unfortunately. The customer touch points before and after HorizonNext is quite different - for the better of course.

[Vibhav-Van]

Definitely a loss to Tata, as design has been one of the most important selling points for their current range of cars, apart from safety of course.

Forgive me for going off-topic, but all of us know Tata's famous lack of attention to detail. In fact, I was reading about this person's Harrier experience (2020 Tata Harrier Automatic : Official Review) yesterday and wondered - What is the point of great designs if their final manifestation isn't perfect. My dad drives a Nexon, and I've felt a lot of these feelings firsthand.

As a designer, it is not very encouraging to see your designs not being engineered/implemented to perfection. It is a possibility that this also could have been the case for his move, along with other speculative reasons.

Also, where might he be heading to? I'd love to see him at Mahindra.

[aditya79india]

Yeah. It would be very interesting if MM got hold of PB as design head and TM got hold of Dr Goenka as MD.

[swarnava.ch]

I think Pratap Bose was sad that he had to lie about calling Gravitas as Safari and saying this was always the plan. I mean Come ‘on the guy had to keep repeating this with a straight face - this was the last nail in the coffin

[Guna]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Found him a tad overrated and highly egoistic, he almost felt like he's above the league of Batista Farrina, Giorgetto Guigiaro, Chris Bangle, Peter Schreyer etc whereas to me he won't even cut top 100.

He has been a successful design manager/head but I don't know much about his credentials as a car designer. I personally know couple of extremely talented designers at Tata motors and believe that they have major role in some of the better designs that we see from Tata Motors.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Found him a tad overrated and highly egoistic, he almost felt like he's above the league of Batista Farrina, Giorgetto Guigiaro, Chris Bangle, Peter Schreyer etc whereas to me he won't even cut top 100.

Agree!

Originally Posted by dark.knight

the Tata Altroz dashboard is a clean copy of the Elite i20.

Disagree, but would like to know why do you think it is a copy?

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Martin Uhlarik has work experience in Skoda, Nissan and SAIC prior to Tata, I trust him to bring in a true European look to Tata motors going forward. I think it's a step forward in the right direction for Tata, they should bring in the Europeans for everything henceforth. Can't wait to see the next generation of Tata cars.

Yes, Pratap's move may not impact TML much and Martin Uhlarik already have an experience of ~ 5 years as a head of TML's Technical center in Europe.

[padmrajravi]

I think this move is purely from a personal career growth perspective. Pratap Bose had already peaked at Tata Motors. His career needs a move to a bigger player to prosper further. One of the big reasons for his popularity among the masses is that he seemed like a fan of earlier Tata Motors designs like Safari, Sumo, Sierra, etc. And he did his bit in selling the designs by always being in the media limelight. It is definitely a loss, but fresh design thinking from an outsider can also help TML.