Brands
Harshavardhan Chitale appointed as the CEO of Hero MotoCorp
NEW DELHI: Hero MotoCorp has handed the throttle to Harshavardhan Chitale, appointing him chief executive officer in a leadership shift aimed at sharpening strategy and accelerating growth at the world’s biggest two-wheeler manufacturer.
Chitale takes charge at a pivotal moment, with the company balancing its dominant domestic position against intensifying global competition and rapid shifts in mobility, technology and consumer demand. As chief executive officer, he will steer overall strategy, push expansion and strengthen Hero MotoCorp’s presence at home and abroad.
Before joining Hero MotoCorp, Chitale was chief executive officer – professional business at Signify, where he ran the group’s global professional lighting arm, a business generating close to €4bn in annual revenues. He also served on the board of management of Signify N.V., giving him boardroom experience at the highest international level.
His career spans senior leadership roles at HCL Enterprise, Honeywell and the Tata Administrative Services, blending deep exposure to technology, manufacturing and global operations.
For Hero MotoCorp, the appointment signals intent: sharper execution, bigger ambition and a renewed push to stay ahead in a fast-changing two-wheeler race. The road ahead is demanding — and chitale has been brought in to ride it hard.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
