Tata Motors extends gains into eighth day post JLR Q3 retail sales numbers

JLR performance in China, the region least impacted by Covid-19 in the most recent quarter, has been particularly encouraging with sales there growing on both a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter

Shares of Tata Motors hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 249.50, up 13.35 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday, extending its Monday's 11 per cent rally, after the company's subidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) posted second successive quarter-on-quarter recovery in sales, despite the continuing impact of Covid-19.

The stock of Tata group commercial vehicles company was trading higher for the eighth straight day and has rallied 25 per cent during the period.

JLR on Monday released its 2020 sales figures, which reflect a considerable hit as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the company highlighted signs of recovery as sales in China remained strong.

"Retail sales for the quarter ending December 31, 2020 were 128,469 vehicles, 13.1 per cent higher than the 113,569 vehicles sold in the preceding quarter, but down 9 per cent on the same period last year. China sales were particularly encouraging, up 20.2 per cent on the prior quarter and 19.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY)," JLR said in a media statement.

The management said JLR performance in China, the region least impacted by Covid-19 in the most recent quarter, has been particularly encouraging with our sales there growing on both a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis. Other markets are also showing strong signs of recovery, despite second Covid waves across the globe, it said.

"Evolution of virus control measures in key geographies like the UK (nearly 20 per cent of sales) is a monitorable for Q4FY21E performance. Among positives, product mix continues to improve for the better courtesy ongoing skew towards Land Rover (down 5.1 per cent YoY vs. 20.8 per cent Jaguar decline; Land Rover at 76 per cent of total JLR sales as of 9MFY21)," ICICI Securities said in a note.