Vikram Kirloskar (1958–2022) was an Indian industrialist and vice chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, a joint venture between the Indian conglomerate Kirloskar Group and Toyota Motor Corporation to manufacture and sell Toyota cars in India. A pioneer of India’s automotive industry, he played a key role in bringing Japanese firm Toyota Motor Corp to India in 1997. He was also the Chairman and Managing Director of Kirloskar Systems. He died on 29 November 2022 due to cardiac arrest.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Vikram Srikant Kirloskar was born in 1958 (age 64 years at death), and was from Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. He studied at Lawrence School in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. He studied Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from his grandfather’s alma mater, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. Subsequently, he received training while working in various positions in India and the US.
Family
Vikram Kirloskar is a fourth generation member of the Kirloskar Group, founded by Laxmanrao Kirloskar in 1888. The company was the manufacturer of India’s first iron plow in 1888. Since then, members of the Kirloskar family have been contributing to the development and industrialization of India.
Laxmanrao Kirloskar (left) with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Kirloskar family chart showing names of family members along with their ages (as of 2020)
parents and siblings
His father, Srikant Kirloskar, was also an industrialist and a member of the third generation of the Kirloskar Group. He was the only child.
wife and children
His wife, Gitanjali Kirloskar, is an advertising professional who led his firm Quadrant Communications as president. He also founded the insurance services arm of Kirloskar Systems. She is the former chairperson of Bangalore-based Sakra World Hospital. The hospital was launched in 2013, in partnership with Toyota Tsusho, the business arm of Toyota Group, and Secom Medical System, the medical arm of Japanese security company Secom. It was the first hospital in India to be jointly operated by Japanese and Indian companies.
Vikram Kirloskar and Gitanjali Kirloskar
His daughter, Mansi Kirloskar, is the executive director of Kirloskar Systems. Later, she joined the board of Toyota Motors. She is married to Neville Tata, son of Noel Tata.
Vikram Kirloskar with his wife Gitanjali Kirloskar and daughter Mansi Kirloskar
relationships/affairs
Before marriage, Vikram and Geetanjali dated for some time after being introduced at a party. At the time, Geetanjali was 18 and studying at Pune University, while Vikram was 24 and had returned to India after graduating from MIT. Recalling their first meeting he said,
A mutual friend had thrown a party. They had invited both of us and our families had asked their parents to introduce us to each other. Vikram was from MIT; Quiet, intelligent and six years older. I was impressed by his charming style.”
After the party, Vikram offers Geetanjali to drop her home and she agrees, but instead, he takes her to his house. Talking about this in an interview, he said,
Instead Vikram took me to his home; His parents were sleeping deeply. The next morning, they were surprised that I was at their house and wondered if he had already proposed. But we took our time. What ultimately worked was that I wanted to study and work after marriage and Vikram also had the same expectations from his partner.
Caste
Vikram Kirloskar hails from the Maharashtrian Karhade Brahmin family of Laxmanrao Kirloskar, whose father, Kashinathpanth, was a Vedanta-pandit.
livelihood
In 1981, he started his career when he started working in the manufacturing and automobile industry. He began working in the family business after college, starting in production engineering. He was a manufacturing trainee at Kirloskar Cummins in Pune. Early in his career, he designed and developed many processes and machine tools. In the late 1980s, he was instrumental in establishing import licensing for capital equipment while serving on the government’s Development Council for Machine Tools. In 1997, the Kirloskar Group and Toyota Motor Corporation established the joint venture Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), with Vikram Kirloskar as its Vice Chairman. The headquarters of the enterprise is located in Bidadi, Karnataka, near Bengaluru. Apart from this, he was also the Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts. Other private limited companies of the Kirloskar group, of which Vikram Kirloskar was a director, include Kirloskar Pneumatic, Denso Kirloskar Industries, Kirloskar Toyota Textile Machinery and Kirloskar Oil Engines. He was also a director of Kirloskar Proprietary Limited, Vikramgeet Investments and Holdings Private Limited. Ltd., Global Innovation & Technology Alliance, Quadrant Communications Ltd., Asra Sales & Investment Pvt. Ltd., Vsk Holdings Pvt. Ltd., and CSEP Research Foundation. He was also a director of Toyota’s Material Handling and Industries Engine Pvt. Ltd. companies.
Death
Vikram Kirloskar died on 29 November 2022 due to heart failure. Announcing his death, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said,
We would like to thank Shri Vikram S., Vice President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor on 29th November 2022. Deeply saddened to announce the untimely demise of Kirloskar. In this hour of grief, we pray to everyone that his soul rests in peace. We express our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
Facts/General Knowledge
- He was a member of the Indian Council of Education, National Council of Research – MIT and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He served as the President of the Central Institute of Manufacturing Technology, Bengaluru and the Confederation of Indian Industry from 2019 to 2020.
- He also served on the Automobile Development Council and the National Council for Electric Mobility of the Government of India.
- He served as the Vice President of the Automotive Research Association of India and President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
- His interests include aero modelling, swimming, golf, tennis cooking, painting, sculpture and Western and Indian classical music.
- He was an avid wine connoisseur.
- He was a recipient of the Suvarna Karnataka Award.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn