Siddhartha Vikram Lal (born October 1973) is an Indian businessman. The son of businessman Vikram Lal, Siddhartha Lal is the executive chairman of Eicher Motors, a director of Eicher Goodearth and chairman and MD of VE Commercial Vehicles. Lal is known for the turnaround and revival of Royal Enfield.

Early life and education

Siddhartha Vikram Lal is the son of Vikram Lal, who was the founder and chief executive officer of Eicher Motors. He has a sister, Simran Lal. Like his father, Siddhartha attended The Doon School for his secondary education. After completing his secondary education in 1994, Lal attended St. Stephen's College of the University of Delhi for a bachelor's degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. Between 1996 and 1998, he attained a postgraduate diploma in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

from Cranfield University, and a master's degree in automotive engineering from the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Career

Lal, after completing his education, started working with MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG. Before he joined Eicher Motors, his father, Vikram, sent him to Europe to interact with Royal Enfield motorcycle importers in the continent. Lal joined Eicher Motors in 1999, working in various capacities in the Eicher tractor division and he also created the company's

geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and Geographic information system software, software that store, manage, Spatial analysis, analyze, edit, output, and Cartographic design, visualize Geographic data ...

and maps division. Lal then became CEO of Royal Enfield in 2000 (at the age of 26). Initially, Lal's responsibility as CEO of Royal Enfield, which was on the verge of being sold due to the company's problems, was to fix the unit's products, financial and operational issues. From 2000 to 2004, he worked out of Royal Enfield's headquarters in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, introducing cost-cutting measures and product upgrades. "Honestly, at age 26, it seemed a fun thing to do. I could eat, sleep, ride and talk motorcycles," Lal said in a 2015 interview. To solve the issues in Royal Enfield, Lal brought in a new client servicing team to address the concerns of motorcycle dealers and he used his engineering knowledge to improve the motorcycle engines, which resulted in the company increasing its sales. In January 2004, Lal was appointed as the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

(COO) of Eicher Motors. In 2005, he sold 13 of the 15 businesses of Eicher Motors and decided to allocate resources to Royal Enfield and the trucks business. Lal took this decision as he thought that in these two businesses, his business could become market leaders. In May 2006, Lal took over as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) and managing director (MD) of Eicher Motors. In 2008, he transferred Eicher Motors' truck business was transferred to VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), which is a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

, a Swedish automotive company. Lal's reason for forming a joint venture with Volvo was to become one of the largest competitors in India's truck market. He also convinced Volvo to make its 160 hp to 300 hp engines for light and medium trucks through their joint venture by convincing Volvo of using the low engineering costs in India to help with the returns from the exports of the engines. Later, Lal also secured a concession from Volvo, allowing Eicher Motors to use some of the engines that VECV was manufacturing for Volvo in Eicher Motors' heavy-duty vehicles in India. This was significant because Eicher Motors had faced challenges in developing its own engines for use in the company's trucks. In 2019, Lal stepped down as the CEO of Royal Enfield. In August 2021, during the annual general meeting of Eicher Motors, shareholders of the company rejected Lal's reappointment as MD due to disagreements about an increase in his remuneration. In September 2021, Eicher Motors once again approached shareholders to reappoint Lal as MD and with a revised remuneration plan. In October 2021, the company's shareholders approved Lal’s reappointment as MD and his remuneration package for the next 5 years. In Feburary 2025, Lal was appointed as the Executive Chairman of Eicher Motors.

Positions held

Personal life

Siddhartha Lal relocated from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

to London, in August 2015, in order to be close to Royal Enfield's new R&D centre in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

. "We are in the process of developing engines for the international markets and lots of developmental work is happening in the UK. It is for that I have decided to move to the UK for one year," he said.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lal, Siddhartha 1973 births Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of Cranfield University Businesspeople from Delhi Living people St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni The Doon School alumni Indian chief operating officers Eicher Motors