Covid-19 impact: Tata Motors' Q1 sales fall 82% over subdued demand

Tata Motors on Wednesday reported 81.78 per cent dip in its total sales at 25,047 units in the first quarter ended June 30, 2020.

The company had sold 1,37,545 units in the April-June quarter of 2019-20.

Domestic sales of the company stood at 23,845 units in the first quarter of the current fiscal, down 82 per cent from 1,31,879 units in same period of 2019-20, Tata Motors said in a statement.

Amidst subdued demand environment, first quarter was marked by successful transition to BS-VI across the range of commercial vehicles," Tata Motors President, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit Girish Wagh said.

There are early recovery signs in a few sectors, and the company looks forward to a gradual pickup in demand on the back of overall economic recovery while continuing to address the challenges of intermittent demand and supply disruptions from Covid-19, he added.

The company's commercial vehicle sales during the quarter declined by 90 per cent to 10,476 units as compared with 1,00,357 units in same period of 2019-20.

Passenger vehicle sales during the period under review declined by 61 per cent to 14,571 units as against 36,945 units in the corresponding period last year.

"The Covid-19 lockdown deeply impacted PV industry sales in the first quarter of 2021 fiscal. After partial sales recovery in May pent up demand supported a steeper recovery of retail in June," Shailesh Chandra, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors said.

Retail sales were stronger than wholesales by 27 per cent, driven by the company's focus on the former while ensuring optimum inventory levels in the network, he added.

As of June 30, 2020, the auto major had cash and cash equivalents of more than Rs 5,000 crore and undrawn committed facilities of Rs 1,500 crore, Tata Motors said.

The Mumbai-based company has decided to provide only quarterly sales data from April this year.