ROLLING ON

TATA MOTORS IS RACING AHEAD IN THE DOMESTIC MARKET ON THE BACK OF ITS ROBUST SUV AND EV PORTFOLIOS. BUT, THE AUTOMAKER FACES AN UPHILL TASK IN GETTING ITS SLOWING INTERNATIONAL SUBSIDIARY JLR BACK ON TRACK

- PRERNA LIDHOO

TATA MOTORS, INDIA’S third-largest carmaker, is well known for its risk-taking nature. Be it with the launch of India’s first true-blue sports utility vehicle (SUV) Tata Safari in 1998, or now with its aggressive push into India’s nascent electric vehicles (EV) market, the homegrown automaker is at its competitive best. This competitive intensity is also reflected in the carmaker’s performance on the BT500 2022 list, where it has climbed 15 spots to No. 33, and its average market cap has jumped 72.1 per cent to ₹1.51 lakh crore during the study period (October 2021-September 2022).

While all is well for the firm domestically, its UK-based subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has hit a speed bump. “It [Tata Motors] exists in the global market and its financials depend a lot on the overseas market. Right now, we’re looking at a slowdown that is disrupting demand globally,” says Gaurav Vangaal, Associate Director of Light Vehicle Production Forecast-Indian Subcontinent at S&P Global Mobility.

But JLR is only one part of the behemoth. Its portfolio also includes commercial vehicles (CVs), traditionally its largest segment; passenger vehicles (PVs), where demand has increased rapidly; and EVs, its fastest growing segment.