India's Tata Motors gets first full-time CEO in two years

India's largest car maker Tata Motors on Monday appointed its first permanent chief executive since its previous head fell to his death from a hotel in Bangkok two years ago.

In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Tata Motors, the owner of luxury British brand Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), said former Airbus CEO Guenter Butschek would take over as chief executive and managing director from February 15.

Cyrus Mistry, chairman of the sprawling tea-to-software Tata Group, has been acting CEO since former chief Karl Slym apparently committed suicide in the Thai capital in January 2014.

"I am confident that Mr Butschek's ability to lead high performing teams will enable our company to achieve sustainable, profitable growth," Mistry wrote in the statement.

Butschek will be tasked with turning around the domestic operations of Tata Motors. The Mumbai-based firm's profits have become hugely reliant on revenues from JLR, which it bought for $2.3 billion from Ford in 2008.

In November, Tata Motors reported a quarterly loss of $65.4 million, citing a massive one-off hit from a gas explosion in Tianjin, China.