Tata Motors may report a record loss for the first quarter of 2013, as sales of the Tata Nano fall below expectations.
The loss of Tata Nano sales in its home market of India drags down earnings for the group, which also owns Jaguar Land Rover.
Group profit at Tata could be down by as much as 57 per cent, a record for the company and the largest decline since former chairman Ratan Tata acquired JLR in 2008 from Ford.
Bloomberg reports that JLR accounted for as much as 72 per cent of Tata’s revenue in the last three months of 2012.
One analyst told Bloomberg: “Tata is no longer an aspirational brand and in India, cars are an aspirational purchase.
“They [Tata] seem to be trying to do something about this but those models are some time away, so the big challenge is how do you hold on while the new models come in.”
Tata has tried running several promotions in its home market to drive sales, including offering to buy back Manza saloons and allowing customers to purchase a new Nano using their credit cards.
So far, however, the deals have failed to bring back buyers.
Market-watchers suggest that Tata will need to introduce new passenger car models tailored to the Indian market to turn the situation around.
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Tata cars which were once upon a time,decent products,upon introduction of more modern competition are losing out because I would say they are consider to be more crude and industrial.Tata sells more Commercial vehicles than cars actually.I personally owned a Tata Sumo in the 90s and bought the Toyota Kijang(the version which was sold as Qualis In India) to replace it in 2000.I found the toyota was smoother and better than the Sumo.That was in the 90s. Now the new Tata Safari,Manza etc are very good in terms of features and engines offered.However I have often heard and read reports of them losing out on reliability compared to the competition.
Tata Motors is backed monetarily by the Tata group,one of India's largest Industrial Conglomerates.So I dont think revamping their model range and making it better should be as much a problem for Tata as it is for other manufacturers.
Thanks RPriorepdia... and how
Thanks RPriorepdia... and how much of 100 billion do Tata Motors contribute to the whole group? I'd assume a considerable amount when JLR are turning over in excess GBP 10 million.
Tata Group - Company Profile
The Tata group comprises over 100 operating companies in seven business sectors: communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. The group has operations in more than 80 countries across six continents, and its companies export products and services to 85 countries.
The total revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $100.09 billion