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Informist, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025

 

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--Tata Motors PV: Expect improvement in performance in H2, especially in Q4
--CONTEXT: Tata Motors PV mgmt's comments at post-earnings press conference
--Tata Motors PV: Feel no segment should get concessions in emission norms
--Tata Motors PV: Q3 will be weak for JLR ops on lag in production strength
--Tata Motors PV: Emission norms talks should not be focused on small cars
--Tata Motors PV: No change in plan to produce JLR cars in India from 2026
--Tata Motors PV: Harrier EV waiting period 16-18 weeks, depending on variants
--Tata Motors PV: Held 27 days' inventory as of Oct. 31, aim to lower it
--Tata Motors PV: Won't be able to hike prices in December quarter
--Tata Motors PV: Strategy has been to opt for CNG in all sub-4-metre cars
--Tata Motors PV: See data leak possibility in JLR cyber attack; probe on

 

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI – Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. Friday said that even though car production at its Jaguar Land Rover facilities has resumed to a good degree, the company will not be able to catch up on the last production weeks for the rest of the year. As such, the company expects the December quarter to be weak for the luxury carmaker, with improvement expected only in the final quarter, it told reporters in a post-earnings press conference.

 

Operations of Jaguar Land Rover are significant for Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, as the UK-based subsidiary contributes around 79% to the latter's consolidated revenue. JLR had to halt production at its manufacturing units completely in September owing to a major cyber attack. "In light of the cyber challenges that we faced, as well as the current economic demand situation we see, FY (full year) guidance has been revised downward, with EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin likely to be in the range of 0-2%," the company said.

 

Apart from the cyber attack, JLR's operations in the recent quarters have also been impacted by a weak demand environment in its target markets and the imposition of tariffs by the US on car imports there. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles said the current global demand for cars is challenging. "And it's just one part of the challenges that are currently being dealt with, because we believe, if you look at the demand situation in China, look at the US tariff situation there, semiconductor supply availability, the external environment remains challenging," a top executive at the company said. 

 

There are concerns of customer data leaks following the cyber attack on JLR's operations in September. This is currently being investigated, the company said. Despite these challenges, the company said it still expects to begin manufacturing JLR cars in Tamil Nadu from January 2026.

Earlier in the day, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles disclosed its September quarter earnings. Its consolidated net loss from continuing operations was INR 63.68 billion in the September quarter on revenue of INR 723.49 billion. The company reported an exceptional gain of INR 826.16 billion during the quarter from discontinued operations. This was on account of the demerger of the commercial vehicle business.

 

While global demand remains subdued, the company said domestic demand is showing signs of resurgence. "Overall, we expect an all-around improvement in performance in the second half of FY26, starting from more towards the last quarter," a top executive said. 

 

Tata Motors recorded sales of over 60,000 cars each in September and October. Nexon was the top-selling car in these two months. "We also saw an upswing in our market share as the rank number 2 OEM (original equipment manufacturer) as for the market share for both months. We were also able to capitalise on the GST reduction in the rest of the season, with over 1 lakh deliveries between Navratri and Diwali, that is 33% growth year to year, which has allowed us to sharply reduce inventory value there," the company said. As of Oct. 30, the company's inventory stood at 27 days, which it intends to bring down to 15-20 days by end of December.

 

Chandra said Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles does not plan to hike prices of its cars in the December quarter, because of the recent cut in goods and services tax. "Typically, you know, at the start of quarter four is when the opportunity comes to price, so we will definitely take in quarter four," Chandra said.

 

TATA MOTORS ON CAFE NORMS

Shailesh Chandra, the Managing Director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. said Tata Motors is currently the second-biggest producer of small cars in India. Carmakers have been in talks with authorities to give more leeway to small cars under the emission norms, arguing that forcing them to adhere to higher requirements would effectively kill the category. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the top small car maker in India, has called for providing concessions to this segment under the next iteration of emission norms.

 

However, Chandra argued that the company has faced no concerns about meeting Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency, or CAFE, norms. "We see absolutely no justification for any special concession for this specific category of cars or any category of car, maybe small or big. And there has been an effort to define an arbitrary category of small car basis weight. We do not support any movement to weight in the definition of small car," Chandra said.

 

Chandra is currently also the President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, but gave this view in his capacity as a Tata Motors official. "Encouraging lighter vehicles would undermine the significant progress the industry has made in improving safety standards and protection. Also, you know, regulation should not be in dissonance with evolving consumer preferences because at some stage, you have to align with it", he said.

 

Tata Motors had launched its electric Harrier earlier in June. It currently has a waiting period of around 16-18 weeks, depending on variants, the company said. On its fuel mix strategy, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles said compressed natural gas is very relevant for cars less than four metres wide as people are still preferring diesel in higher segment cars. "CNG is very relevant up to four-meter or max 4.3-meter cars. Beyond that, given that CNG has slight underperformance, people in that (higher) segment look for superior performance," the company said. In these cases, the company is seeing customers opt for diesel cars, which provide higher torque.

 

On the one-time gain, Tata Motors' Group Chief Financial Officer P.B. Balaji said the accounting treatment was only notional and does not have any impact on the company's net worth and distributable results. "For the commercial vehicle business (the demerged undertaking) the fair value of this asset, based on third party valuation, was to be about INR 940 bln. The book value of the assets that were transferred to the CV undertaking was about INR 110 bln," Balaji said. The delta between this, of INR 830 billion was taken as an exceptional gain, Balaji added.
 

The company disclosed its September quarter earnings after the markets closed for the day. Friday, its shares closed 1.7% lower on the National Stock Exchange at INR 391.20.

 

Reported by Anand JC and Afra Abubacker

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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