Pratap Bose is the Vice President of Global Design in Tata Motors. Pratap has worked with Tata Motors for 14 years, and with his design leadership, he has changed the way people see the brand. He has also played a major role in changing the way the cars look and making them more desirable to the public.
Wiki/Biography
Pratap Bose was born in 1975 (age 45 years; as in 2020) in Mumbai. Pratap grew up in Mumbai and graduated in Industrial Design from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad in 1998. Pratap’s love for car designing started when he saw a Mercedes Benz 280 SEL outside the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. In 2001, Pratap received a scholarship from the Inlaks Foundation, and he joined the Royal College of Art in the U.K. for post-graduation.
Physical Appearance
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour:Â Black
Career
Pratap was pursuing his graduation from the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad and during this time, he worked for Tata Motors plant in Pune during his eight-week summer internship. This was the time when he saw Ratan Tata for the first time while he was on the plant visit to review Tata Indica, which was being designed at that time. The model of Tata Indica had flown in from Italy as the projects were not done in house. After graduating from NID, Pratap didn’t get a job in Tata Motors; however, he was offered a job by Piaggio, Italy, which was willing to tap into the Indian two-wheeler market at that time. He went to Italy to understand the design and development process while trying to overcome the language barrier. A stay that was meant for six months extended to a two and a half years long work as Piaggio offered him to join the design team as the Senior Designer. He spent two years in the Royal College of Arts where he completed his post-graduation in arts and design in 2003. He applied in Tata Motors but the automobile industry was going through a rough patch at that time, and he couldn’t get a job, instead he got a job in Mitsubishi, Japan.
Pratap Bose working at the Mercedes Benz studio in Japan
Back then, Mitsubishi was working in partnership with Daimler Chrysler, and soon, they split up. During this split, Pratap followed his boss Olivier Boulay who was the vice president of Mercedes Benz Advanced Design Center in Japan. In 2006, Olivier and Pratap went for a CII conference in Delhi to speak there and during the post-event dinner, Pratap approached Ravi Kant, Managing Director of Tata Motors, and he expressed his desire to work at Tata Motors. In a few months, he received a mail from Kant’s office where he was asked to fly to Bombay and meet Mr. Ratan Tata for 30 minutes to which he agreed. At the age of 31, he was sitting with Ratan Tata in an office where he explained the pros and cons of the company designs and how he could help them get better. Later that evening, Ratan Tata offered him to work for Tata Motors at their Tech Center in the U.K. Pratap’s journey with Tata Motors started in 2007, and in the year 2011, he was appointed as the Head of Design. Since then, he has been working on the design of cars, trucks, and buses for Tata Motors.
Pratap Bose with Mr. Ravi Kant, Managing Director of Tata Motors
Facts/Trivia
- Pratap Bose had applied in Tata Motors twice, but he was not selected due to several reasons and circumstances every time. Working with Tata Motors was a dream of Pratap Bose.
- In his leisure time, Pratap likes to paint, cook, learn new languages, and playing drums. He is also fond of airplanes.
- He is also a visiting professor at the Vehicle Design department of the Royal College of Arts, London.
- Pratap Bose and his team are responsible for the introduction of the IMPACT Design 2.0. This is the new design policy on which all their new cars like Nexon, Harrier, etc. are based on.
Sketch of Nexon drawn by Pratap Bose in 2013