Sudhir Chikhle, the former VP of sourcing and supply chain at Ashok Leyland has joined Tata Motors as their Vice President and Chief Purchase Officer for their EV division.
Chikhle, who was earlier associated with Tata Motors through Fiat Chrysler Automobile, has joined Tata Passenger Electric Mobility or TPEM as CPO in the first week of December and he will be reporting directly to Shailesh Chandra – the MD of the company.
Chikle who has over two and half decades of experience in the sourcing domain, is understood to have a wholesome understanding of the business environment and its demand-supply vagaries – making him a valued resource in the highly dynamic electric vehicle market – which is on a cusp of a takeoff.
With close to US$ 2 billion investment commitment on the EV business and portfolio of 10 models to be available by 2026, Tata Motors is not only building scale, but also it is building capabilities. Tata Motors has plans of selling over 1 lakh EVs annually this year and it expects the penetration of EVs to move up to 30% in the coming few years from the current 15%.
Given his strong global exposure, Chikhle will play an important role in the localisation of electric vehicles for the maker of Nexon EV and help in bringing down the cost, to ensure better accessibility of electric vehicles in the country.
Chikhle is a Fiat Group veteran with over 15 years of experience with the Italian Automotive Group from 2005 to 2021, across functions and businesses both in India and globally.
He has led sourcing for all major Fiat projects in India from MultiJet diesel engine to Linea and Punto cars when they were launched. One of his last major contributions to the Fiat Chrysler Automobile Group was the development of the first localised Jeep Compass in India before he joined Ashok Leyland in 2021.
At the Hinduja Group’s flagship company, Chikhle was actively involved in supporting the R&D team in sourcing for a series of alternate fuel technologies, including electric vehicles under the Switch Mobility for the EV buses and E-LCVs.
A Tata Motors' spokesperson confirmed the development. He will be based out of Tata Motors' Pune office.
A Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Jalandhar, Chikhle has an MBA in manufacturing and operations management from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.
In his 25 years of professional career, Chikhle has worked predominantly in the sourcing and supply chain domain – across companies like CNH, Iveco, Fiat India, Fiat Chrysler Automobile, and Ashok Leyland.