Market tailwinds help Tata Motors arrest decline in key CV segments

Company posts first profit in six quarters on heavy cost pruning; M&HCV and LCV clock 55% and 42% growth in domestic sales

Tata Motors, the country’s biggest commercial vehicle maker, has largely arrested the declining market share in most segments of the business. In fact, the company has increased its share in light commercial vehicles (LCV) while maintaining the share in medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV) or trucks. This has helped its domestic business turn profitable during the October-December quarter after five successive loss-making quarters.

The company reported a standalone profit of Rs 1.83 billion in third quarter of FY18 against losses of Rs 10.46 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Standalone revenues (domestic business) for the quarter rose 59