Tata Motors Group Shurgs Off Global Woes, Wholesales Up 8%

In an exchange filing, Tata Motors said its vehicle sales for the January-March period reached 3,61,361 units compared to 3,34,884 units in the same period of the previous fiscal, including sales of its luxury brand vehicles under Jaguar Land Rover.

In a 1 April report The Financial Times reported that rising borrowing costs exacerbated by recent turmoil in the banking sector have sidelined some buyers in the US new car market, putting pressure on manufacturers to discount vehicles.

"Cars have become increasingly unaffordable after shortages over the past two years forced consumers to pay at or above sticker prices. The Federal Reserve’s efforts to curb inflation have now driven the average interest rate on a new car or truck loan to 8.95%, up from 5.66% a year ago, according to Cox Automotive, which provides services to car dealers," said the report.

At Tata Motors, global wholesales of all commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range decreased by 3% to 1,18,321 units during the March quarter against 1,22,147 units in same quarter of FY2022.

However, the company's global wholesales of passenger vehicles ( includes sales of Electric Vehicles), swelled by 10% year-on-year in the March quarter to 1,35,654 units.

To be sure, JLR contributed almost a third of Tata Motors global sales.

JLR's global wholesales were recorded at 1,07,386 vehicles in the March quarter. The wholesales for Jaguar were 15,499 vehicles, while the wholesales for Land Rover were 91,887 vehicles, the company said.

JLR’s retail sales for the March quarter were at 102,889 units, including the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China joint venture, up 21% from the previous quarter and 30% compared to the year-ago quarter.

On Thursday, shares of Tata Motors ended 2.6% higher at ₹437.65 apiece on the NSE.