New Delhi: Auto industry veteran Ravinder Singh Chopra (79), popularly known as Ravi Chopra passed away on Friday due to age- related complications.
Singh was the Chairman of Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd (PVPL), a fully-owned subsidiary of the Italian auto major Piaggio Group, and a highly experienced manager who contributed to the consolidation of the Piaggio Group’s work in commercial vehicles in India, the development of manufacturing facilities and the return of the Vespa scooter to India in 2012.
PVPL incepted its Indian operations with the launch of Apé in 1999. Today, it has a large network in the three-wheeler space and manufactures premium scooters under Vespa and Aprilia brands.
Since April 1998, he held the position of Managing Director of Piaggio Vehicles, and was later appointed as the Chairman of the company. In 2017, he introduced Diego Graffi, the current CEO of PVPL, to the industry.
Born in 1943, the industry veteran held a degree in Science and Engineering and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He joined Piaggio in April 1998. Before joining Piaggio, he gained three decades of experience with companies mainly in the automotive sector.
Singh started his career with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. as Market Analyst in 1965. From 1970 to 1973 he was Division Purchasing Manager at Escorts Ltd.; from 1973 to 1984 he was Commercial Manager and Deputy CEO at Greaves Lombardini Ltd. with responsibilities encompassing project management, material management, quality assurance, production planning and control, personnel management and industrial relations.
He also served as General Manager at Jaya Hind Industries and Indian Card Clothing from 1984 to 1989.
Singh joined Greaves Limited in 1989 where he served as General Manager of the Group until 1998 and then as Vice President from 1992 to 1995, when he was appointed Executive Vice President.
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Graffi was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Piaggio’s 300cc engine, named Ape HT, which it has rolled out in the petrol and CNG variants in cargo and passenger auto-rickshaw spaces.
