adminMUMBAI. – India’s top carmaker Tata Motors yesterday reported a 23 percent dive in net profit for April-June as higher sales for its British luxury marques failed to offset weak domestic demand. The car giant reported consolidated net profit of 17,32 billion rupees for the three months to June compared to 22,44 billion rupees a year earlier, a larger drop than expected.
But demand for Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles was strong, with a 13 percent rise in revenues to US$6,26 billion for the quarter and a 29 percent jump in net profit to US$465 million).
JLR said it sold 94 719 cars in the first financial quarter, a 10,4 percent rise from a year earlier.
“Our consolidated earnings were powered by a very good performance by Jaguar-Land Rover,” said C. Ramakrishnan, chief financial officer of Tata Motors.
He said JLR operating profit rose due to an increase in volumes, new launches and a favourable foreign exchange rate.
Tata Motors, which also makes the ultra low-cost Nano car, bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor in 2008 for US$2,3 billion as part of plans to expand its reach beyond Asia.
The deal vaulted it from a commercial vehicle and small-car maker into a global player with luxury brands.
JLR chief executive Ralf Speth said the firm aims to sell 100 000 cars in China this year.
“China is still growing and we hope to achieve an ambitious target of 100 000 cars this year,” Speth told reporters in India’s financial centre Mumbai.
JLR reported a 37 percent rise in sales in the Asia-Pacific region, a 13 percent increase in Britain and an 11 percent rise in China, from a year earlier.
But in India overall demand for new cars is slowing rapidly, with sales in June marking a record eight straight months of decline for the country’s once red-hot car market.
Demand has been hit by high import costs from a weakening rupee and rising fuel prices.
Tata Motors said its India business was “impacted severely by weak macro-economic conditions”, as its sales for the quarter fell 19 percent from a year earlier to 154 352 vehicles.
Revenues of Tata Motors, part of the giant steel-to-software Tata Group now controlled by new chairman Cyrus Mistry, rose 8
percent to 443 billion rupees during the quarter.
Tata’s sales remained under pressure last month. Its passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market fell 59 percent in July to
10 824 units.
High borrowing costs, worries over a sharp slowdown in the economy and costly fuel prices have kept buyers out of showrooms. – AFP.
Online Reporter