Tata Motors dips on lower-than-expected growth at JLR

Tata Motors is trading lower by around 2% at Rs 299 on reports that its key Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit posted lower-than-expected growth of around 3% year-on-year (yoy) in retail volumes during February mainly due to a sharp decline in volumes in China.

JLR posted a modest growth 3.1% yoy in total volumes to 26,855 units in February 2013 as Land Rover volumes registered a decline of 0.8% yoy.

“The lower-than-expected retail volumes for February primarily due to a sharp 23% yoy decline in volumes in China following festival season in February which resulted in lower working days,” analyst at Angel Broking said in a report.

The sales momentum in other geographies, however, remained strong with US, Asia Pacific and UK posting a strong volume growth of 19%, 19% and 15% yoy respectively.

Meanwhile, analyst has maintained “Accumulate” rating on the stock and expects the company to sustain its growth momentum driven by Evoque and new product launches.

The stock opened at Rs 306 and hit a low of Rs 297 on NSE. A combined 3.18 million shares have changed hands on the counter till 1013 hours on NSE and BSE.