Tata Motors' May global wholesale vehicle sales fall 17.5 percent

REUTERS - Tata Motors Ltd's global wholesale vehicle sales fell an annual 17.5 percent in May, the company said, as a marginal rise in the sales of its luxury Jaguar Land Rover cars failed to offset sluggish passenger and commercial vehicle sales.

Tata Motors, part of India's salt-to-steel Tata Group conglomerate, sold 81,783 vehicles in May, the company said in a statement on Sunday. Passenger cars accounted for 43,142 vehicle sales, down 15.5 percent from a year ago.

Sales of its Jaguar Land Rover brand, which Tata purchased for $2.3 billion in 2008, stood at 31,210 in the month, a rise of 3.7 percent from a year ago.

 

Sales of its sleek Jaguar cars rose 63 percent to 7,061 vehicles during the month, offsetting a 6 percent fall in the sales of Land Rover vehicles.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah in MUMBAI; Editing by Supriya Kurane)