Speth started his automotive career with
BMW in 1980 and worked for them for 20 years. In 2002, he joined
The Linde Group as head of global operations and vice president of operations. He was also
chief operating officer and a member of the executive board at its subsidiary
KION Group GmbH. In 2007, Speth returned to the car industry and joined
Ford Motor Company's
Premier Automotive Group (PAG) as director of production, quality and product planning. Following the sale of two of the PAG marques, Jaguar and Land Rover, to Tata, he became chief executive officer of
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in February 2010, and a non-executive director of
Tata Motors in November 2010. Under Speth's management, JLR increased the company's workforce significantly. "We have added more than 17,000 people in the course of the last five years," he said in an interview published in June 2015. Speth championed the need for R&D and made much of JLR's investment in R&D. "I guess we are the biggest R&D investor in the UK in the automotive business," he claimed. In the
2015 Special Honours list, Speth was appointed an honorary
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the automotive industry. In August 2019, the award was made substantive following Speth becoming a British citizen. In September 2016, Speth was appointed an honorary professor, having previously been an industrial professor. In October 2016, Speth was appointed an additional director on the board of
Tata Sons. On 30 January 2020 he announced his intention to retire from his role as CEO of JLR effective September 2020, but remain on both the JLR and
Tata Sons boards. He entered into a non-executive role in the company and was succeeded by the CEO of
Renault,
Thierry Bolloré. In 2020, he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society. In April 2022, Speth took over the role of chairman of Indian automaker TVS Motor Company, succeeding Venu Srinivasan. In 2023, Speth was given an honorary doctorate from the university of Warwick. ==Personal life==