Retail sales by Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) were 113,569 units in Q2 ending September, up by 53pc from the preceding quarter but down by 11.9pc from the prior-year quarter. JLR’s profit before tax stood at £65mn on revenue that declined by 28.5pc from Q2 FY2020 to £4.4bn, according to the company results. The company expects sales to increase even in the coming quarter, albeit gradually, supported by its new product portfolio. JLR is also diversifying its products with electric vehicles, which include seven plug-in hybrids, nine mild-hybrids, along with the battery-operated Jaguar I-PACE. Two more models are also expected to be rolled out in the remainder of the year.
In the second quarter Tata Motor Limited-Standalone, including joint operations (TML-S) wholesales, including exports were at 109,958 units, up by 3.4pc from Q1 FY2021. Retail sales from the prior-year quarter for commercial vehicles declined by 56pc to 383,000; while for personal vehicles (PV) rose by 73pc to 535,000 units. The growth is the PV segment was led by sales of models in the company’s ‘New Forever’ range.
Market outlook
The company expects a robust recovery in India’s manufacturing as indicated by the September PMI of 56.8 hitting eight-year peak, against April’s 27.4 level. New case figures are also dipping, indicating the COVID-19 peak will be behind soon. The Reserve Bank of India estimates Indian economy to contract by 9.5pc in FY 21, with a possibility of a positive quarterly growth in Q4. Globally, many economies showed recovery at a faster pace than earlier expected but resurgence of COVID-19 virus in parts of the world, premature withdrawal of policy support, liquidity shortfalls and insolvencies, intensifying social unrest, geopolitical uncertainties could challenge economies, and thereby auto demand.