Carl-Peter Forster a candidate to lead Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover is parting company with its chief executive, David Smith, potentially clearing the way for former Opel and BMW boss Carl-Peter Forster to take control.

Forster has been linked with a senior role at Jaguar Land Rover for some months. Executives at Indian automaker Tata Motors, which bought the British brands from Ford in 2008, were rumored to have been taking soundings on whether Forster was the right man for job.

There's no official word from Jaguar Land Rover on the replacement for Smith, except a statement saying "a replacement will be announced in due course."

In the meantime, Tata Motors boss Ravi Kant will oversee the British brands in conjunction with Jaguar managing director Mike O'Driscoll and Land Rover managing director Phil Popham.

Smith was Jaguar Land Rover's finance director and came to be highly regarded by Tata Motors during the Ford sell-off. He was the only candidate for the CEO job once Tata took control.

However, unlike many car company CEOs, he lacked wider experience in production, engineering and marketing.

By Julian Rendell