Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motors Ltd (TKML), 64 years old Vikram S Kirloskar a fourth-generation scion of the storied 134-year-old Kirloskar Group has died due to a massive heart attack in Bengaluru. A graduate in mechanical engineering from MIT, he has been involved in the automobile sector since 1981. Vikram Kirloskar was a former CII President and a former President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Vikram led the group’s partnership in several ventures with Japanese conglomerate Toyota, including automobiles, textile machinery, insurance, real estate and healthcare. Though the Kirloskar group had a mere 11 per cent stake in TKML, Vikram had become the face of the company. In 2020, Indian Institute of Metals had conferred on him the JRD Tata award for excellence in metallurgical industries.
An avid golfer and tennis player he was also a swimming enthusiast and is survived by his wife Geetanjali and daughter Manasi, apart from a grandchild. His daughter Manasi is married to Neville Tata, whose father Noel and Ratan Tata are half-brothers. Manasi sits on the board of a number of group companies.