Jagdish Khattar, the former Managing Director of Maruti Suzuki and founder of Carnation Auto India, an automotive sales and service company, passed away on Monday due to a cardiac arrest. He was 78-years old.

Since 1993, Khattar was with Maruti Udyog Limited till his retirement in 2007. He joined Maruti in 1993 as director of marketing and went on to became its MD in 1999, first as a government nominee and then in May 2002 as the Suzuki Motor Corporation nominee.

Prior to his stint with Maruti Suzuki, Khattar was an IAS officer with around 37 years of experience. He was known to be a quiet, unassuming IAS officer-turned business manager. After his retirement from Maruti in 2007, he had laid the foundation of his new company, Carnation Auto India, which has a multi-brand pan-India sales and service network.

In 1993, he was co-opted to the auto major, and then in 1999, he followed into the unenviable job of following in the footsteps of legendary managers like R.C. Bhargava who had retired as MD in 1997. This was at a time when the Indo-Japanese auto-maker was in the throes of intense competition as well as simmering tensions between the two equal partners in the joint venture.

Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava said, “This is a deep personal loss and has come as a big shock. We had worked together for many years. He is someone who had done a lot of good for Maruti.”