Tata Motors says had 5,800 JLR cars at China port hit by blasts

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Carmaker Tata Motors Ltd said on Friday 'many' of the 5,800 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles it had at Tianjin port in China were likely to have been damaged in the recent chemical explosion that killed more than a hundred people.

The company said it has yet to determine the exact extent of the damage, joining other global carmakers such as Volkswagen AG , Hyundai Motor Co , Toyota Motor Corp , Daimler and BMW AG that are still counting up their losses.

The Jaguar Land Rover cars had recently been shipped to China and were stored at various locations in Tianjin port, Tata Motors said in a statement to the Indian stock exchange. Tata bought the British luxury carmaker JLR in 2008.

"Whilst we believe many of these vehicles may have been damaged, we are presently unable to quantify the numbers of units affected," a JLR spokesman said in the statement, explaining that access was still restricted to areas near the site of the explosion.

The number of cars damaged at China's largest auto import hub could climb to above 10,000 when accounting for all vehicles in the area. This will affect deliveries at a time when China's auto market has been shrinking due to slowing economic growth and the recent stock market slump.

Shares in Tata Motors extended losses to more than 4 percent after the statement, and ended nearly 3 percent lower in a weak Mumbai market.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah with additional reporting by Costas Pitas in London; Editing by Greg Mahlich)