Jaguar Land Rover drives Tata Motors into a Rs 5,000 cr loss – Times of India

MUMBAI: Tata Motors on Wednesday reported a wider net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 as Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR’s) earnings skidded and raw material costs grew. The flagship of India’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group, posted a net loss of Rs 4,951 crore for the three months to June 30, compared with a loss of Rs 4,450 crore a year earlier.
Revenue edged up 8% to Rs 71,935 crore on rising demand at its India passenger and commercial vehicles units. Expenses, which includes raw material costs, rose 12% to Rs 77,784 crore. Net automotive debt also grew 25% to Rs 60,700 crore.
Tata Motors attributed the increase in losses to JLR’s weak performance. The ongoing chip supply issues, inflation and Covid-related lockdowns in China weighed on JLR. The British luxury unit posted a bigger operational loss of Rs 3,431 crore for the quarter ended June 30, compared with a loss of Rs 233 crore a year earlier. JLR expects production to ramp up in the second quarter as it sees the chip supply scenario improving and the impact of Covid lockdowns in China reducing.
Tata Motors’s non-JLR portfolio (commercial & passenger vehicles business) turned around during the first quarter of fiscal 2023, aided by strong volumes and better price realisations. The commercial vehicles segment made an operating profit of Rs 395 crore as against an operational loss of Rs 327 crore in Q1FY22.
Likewise, the passenger vehicles segment posted an operating profit of Rs 73 crore, compared to an operational loss of Rs 342 crore in the year-ago period. Tata Motors expects the demand for its products to remain strong in its home country despite worries on inflation and geopolitical risks. “Cooling commodity prices are expected to aid improvement in margins,” the company said.