Tata Motors` Q4 net dips

Profit of the Mumbai-headquartered company fell to Rs 536.27 crore in the quarter ended March 31 compared with Rs 576.72 crore posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The Q4 profit were calculated after deducting the profit in the previous nine months announced earlier as Tata Motors did not disclose the figures separately.

 

Net sales for the quarter grew by 6.23 per cent to Rs 8,749.52 crore as compared to Rs 8,235.69 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

C Ramakrishnan, CFO, Tata Motors, said, "Poor credit availability, hardening of interest rates and rising fuel prices impacted overall growth in sales, which has fallen for the first time in the past six years to 5.3 per cent."

A general surge in input costs by 20-50 per cent in the past six months has dented the final quarter results of the company.

Analysts said that the performance of Tata Motors in Q4 was below expectations. "Sales in the passenger car segment were down in addition to a slowdown in the light commercial vehicle segment. The results are not according to our expectations," said an analyst.

Ravi Kant, MD, Tata Motors, said, "The products which are due to come out this year should have made a debut last year. We are late in introducing them."

Tata Motors plans to offer 100 new models and variants across all its products in the next five years. About five new models in the car and utility vehicle segment will debut this year, apart from a number of variants of the Ace LCV and the world truck in the commercial vehicle segment, Ramakrishnan said.

With continuing inflation and high lending rates, the company does not see a revival in sales of commercial as well as passenger vehicles. Kant said, "It's going to be tough for the commercial and passenger vehicle segments. However, our new products will hopefully do better."

Kant also said that in the coming years, Jaguar and Land Rover brands would put a strain on the margins of the company. However, the brands would be fruitful in the long run, he added.

Models that are in the pipeline include new Indica and Indigo, Nano and Crossover, a new utility vehicle.

The company will ramp up its sales and service network throughout the country and will triple its customer touch-points in the next four years.

The company has sold 15 per cent stake each in its subsidiaries HV Axel (HVAL) and HV Transmission (HVTL) for a profit of Rs 138.75 crore.

The company's net profit for the year stood at Rs 2,028.92 crore, up by 8.85 per cent as compared to Rs 1,913.46 crore in the earlier year. Net sales for the year stood at Rs 28,730.82 crore, up by 4.58 per cent as compared to Rs 27,470 crore in the previous year.

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Tata, Chrysler in talks for truck sale

Tata Motors on Wednesday said that it was in talks with Chrysler LLC to sell mini trucks in the US. The company was also in discussion with Chrysler to develop electric versions of the trucks, P M Telang, executive director, Tata Motors, told media persons in Mumbai.