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Informist, Monday, Jun. 15, 2026

 

By Anand JC

 

MUMBAI – The top line for the March quarter of 15 automobile and auto ancillary companies that are part of the Nifty 200 index rose at the fastest rate year-on-year in three quarters, primarily because of higher vehicle sales driven by sustained momentum from the cut in goods and services tax in September. Their net profit for the quarter, however, fell on year, dragged down by Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles. The combined profit movement of the 15 automobile companies was significantly worse than that of the Nifty 200 index companies; their revenue growth outperformed that of the wider index.

 

The combined net profit for the March quarter of the 15 automobile and ancillary companies fell 0.7% on year but grew 66% on quarter. The bottom-line performance was better than analysts' expectations of a 2.6?ll on year, but it was still the second-worst performance in 12 quarters, after the trailing quarter, when the combined net profit of these 15 companies had fallen 28% on year. In the March quarter a year ago, the combined net profit of the companies had grown 34% on year. For the reporting quarter, the automotive companies' net profit fall was in sharp contrast with the 25.2% growth in the net profit of the Nifty 200 companies.

 

The bottom-line scenario for the group was better on net profit adjusted for one-time costs and income. The 15 companies' combined adjusted net profit increased 5.4% on year, growing for the first time in three quarters, but the growth was lower than in 13 quarters leading up to the June quarter of the financial year 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). It was also significantly lower than the 53% year-on-year growth recorded in the year-ago quarter.

 

Tata Motors PV is the biggest contributor to these 15 companies' combined net profit and revenue. For the March quarter, the Sierra-maker contributed 32% to the combined revenue and 23% to the combined net profit. As such, it was also the biggest drag on the group's combined bottom-line performance. Excluding Tata Motors PV, the remaining 14 companies reported a net profit growth of about 15%.

 

As many as 11 automobile companies outperformed the cumulative net profit performance of the group of 15 companies. These companies are Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, TVS Motor Co., Bosch, Samvardhana Motherson International, Exide Industries, MRF, Sona BLW Precision Forgings, Ashok Leyland, and Hero MotoCorp. Of the 15 automobile and ancillary companies that are part of the Nifty 200, the net profit growth of eight exceeded expectations, three were in line, and four were below expectations.

 

The combined revenue of the 15 automobile and ancillary companies grew nearly 17% on year for the March quarter, in line with analysts' estimates. The combined revenue growth was much lower than the 68% growth recorded in the year-ago quarter but higher than the 4.6% increase in the trailing quarter.

 

The top-line growth of these automobile companies was also better than that of the Nifty 200 companies, which grew a shade over 12% on year for the quarter under review. The revenue growth of the following companies exceeded the combined revenue growth of the 15 automobile companies: Bajaj Auto, M&M, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Samvardhana Motherson, Sona BLW, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motor Co., and Hero MotoCorp. The revenue growth of as many as nine companies exceeded expectations while four missed expectations and two were in line.

 

M&M and Samvardhana Motherson led the group in profit growth while TVS Motor and Sona BLW topped revenue growth. At the other end, Hyundai Motor India was among the weakest performers on both metrics, alongside Tata Motors PV on profitability and Bharat Forge on revenue growth.

 

LAGGARDS, OUTPERFORMERS

Pune-based multinational technology and manufacturing company Bharat Forge was the only company among the 15 automobile companies to report a loss for the March quarter. Bharat Forge reported a one-time cost of INR 4.93 billion, incurred largely because of an impairment of INR 4.50 billion towards its investment in its e-mobility division. "It is an acceptance of the need to take a fresh look at how we address the EV opportunity as the EV adoption globally has changed significantly," the company said of the impairment.

 

Tata Motors PV managed to report a profit for the March quarter as its UK-based luxury car arm, Jaguar Land Rover, continued its gradual recovery from the cyber-attack that occurred in late August. The Punch maker reported a consolidated net profit of INR 57.83 billion, down 32% on year. Its revenue grew 7% on year to INR 1.05 trillion. JLR's earnings performance for the quarter was hit by poor sales because of weak global demand and the impact of tariffs. JLR contributes roughly 80% of Tata Motors PV's revenue.

 

M&M reported the strongest profit growth among the group of automobile companies. The company reported a net profit of INR 37.37 billion, up 53% on year. Its revenue grew 25% on year to INR 396.01 billion.

 

M&M's revenue growth was second only to that of Maruti Suzuki in the passenger vehicle segment. The Swift maker's top line rose 28% on year to INR 524.49 billion. However, its net profit fell 7% on year to INR 35.91 billion. The company blamed the year-on-year fall in the bottom line on the mark-to-market impact.

 

Hyundai Motor was the biggest laggard in the passenger vehicle space, given its weak car sales. Its consolidated net profit for the March quarter fell 22% on year to INR 12.56 billion. Despite the poor showing, the company has guided for a strong FY27 driven by new launches.

 

TVS Motor and Hero MotoCorp were the top performers in the two-wheeler segment. TVS Motor's net profit grew 34% on year to INR 9.98 billion while Hero MotoCorp's net profit rose 30% to INR 14.01 billion.

Earnings of automobile ancillary companies in the March quarter saw a robust increase because of strong growth in production of automobiles, and single-digit growth in the replacement segment. However, this was partly offset by weakness in the global automobile market.

 

Of the five automobile ancillary companies that are part of the Nifty 200, none reported a fall in net profit or revenue for the March quarter. However, Bosch was the laggard in bottom-line performance. Its net profit grew roughly 3% on year for the reporting quarter. Samvardhana Motherson emerged as the top performer with its net profit swelling almost 43% on year.

On revenue growth among the ancillary companies, Sona BLW came out on top in the quarter under review. The component maker's revenue grew nearly 47% on year. Battery maker Exide Industries saw its revenue rise a little over 9% on year, the weakest revenue growth among the five companies.

 

PRICE PAIN

While automobile companies remain optimistic about sustaining the demand momentum months after the GST cut, hikes in vehicle prices because of surging raw material costs remain the biggest point of worry. "The inflationary input environment, partly driven by the West Asia conflict, is expected to exert near-term margin pressure; however, the industry views this as transitory and is mitigating the impact through calibrated price hikes, cost optimisation, and strategic sourcing, with currency tailwinds benefiting select OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) while auto ancillaries are expected to pass on cost increases with a lag," brokerage SMIFS Ltd. said in a report.

 

Prices of crude oil and rubber have increased over 15-45% since the war broke out in West Asia, according to Kotak Institutional Equities. Aluminium prices, too, have increased 14% on year at current spot prices. State-run oil marketing companies raised the prices of petrol, diesel, and compressed natural gas in quick succession in May. These price hikes are expected to have an impact on vehicle sales. "We expect if the current metal and rubber prices sustain at current (spot) levels, this could imply a net headwind of 200-300 bps to gross margins for PV, CV, 2W and tractor OEMs from 4QFY26 (Jan-Mar) levels (assuming no price changes)," Kotak said.

 

The following table shows the performance of the 15 automobile and ancillary companies in the Nifty 200 index vis-a-vis the consensus estimate for each company as well as the consensus estimate for the sector and the Nifty 200:

 

Jan-Mar 2025-26 (Apr-Mar)	PAT growth (Actual)	PAT growth (Estimate)	Revenue growth (Actual)	Revenue growth (Estimate)
Nifty 200 (YoY)	25.20%	4.68%	12.16%	13.70%
Automobile, auto ancillary companies (15 in all)	-0.68%	-2.61%	16.84%	17.05%

 

Company

PAT beat analysts' estimate for co

Adjusted PAT growth %

Adjusted PAT growth estimate %

PAT beat auto sector growth

PAT beat Nifty 200 growth

Revenue beat analysts' estimate for co

Revenue growth %

Revenue growth estimate %

Revenue beat auto sector growth

Revenue beat Nifty 200 growth

Ashok Leyland

MET

11.53

12.02

YES

NO

MET

18.93

18.64

YES

YES

Bajaj Auto

YES

32.17

28.36

YES

YES

MET

31.76

29.90

YES

YES

Bharat Forge

NO

2.55

3.49

YES

NO

NO

4.50

7.09

NO

NO

Bosch

NO

2.67

10.39

YES

NO

YES

13.34

9.19

NO

YES

Eicher Motors

YES

11.58

5.61

YES

NO

YES

16.01

13.35

NO

YES

Exide Industries

YES

22.72

14.00

YES

NO

YES

9.42

5.71

NO

NO

Hero Motocorp

MET

29.62

29.63

YES

YES

YES

28.76

25.95

YES

YES

Hyundai Motor India

YES

-22.22

-25.00

NO

NO

NO

5.44

7.20

NO

NO

Mahindra and Mahindra

YES

53.35

43.34

YES

YES

YES

25.28

21.30

YES

YES

Maruti Suzuki India

NO

-6.92

5.38

NO

NO

YES

28.21

25.77

YES

YES

MRF

NO

33.62

36.44

YES

YES

NO

13.89

15.84

NO

YES

Samvardhana Motherson

YES

61.02

19.81

YES

YES

YES

17.03

12.23

YES

YES

Sona BLW Precision Forgings

YES

15.13

7.26

YES

NO

YES

46.50

40.19

YES

YES

Tata Motors PV

YES

-24.01

-45.51

NO

NO

NO

7.19

12.36

NO

NO

TVS Motor Co.

MET

33.05

34.00

YES

YES

YES

34.11

31.85

YES

YES

 

END

 

Data compiled by Vinod Bhovad

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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