JLR's tariff blues, weak India demand hit Tata Motors profit

Trump tariffs on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicles in the US and weak automobile demand in India hurt Tata Motors Ltd, dragging the automaker's profits in the June quarter.

- Dipali Banka & Ayaan Kartik

JLR, the Tata Motors luxury division earning three-fourths of its revenue and majority of profits, saw a 9.2% decline in revenue and almost 49% decline in profit before tax to £693 million, the company's earnings released on Friday showed.

"The company's performance in this quarter was impacted by volume declines and a drop in profitability primarily at JLR, affected by the US trade tariff impact," group chief financial officer P.B. Balaji said.

In April, US President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on cars imported from the UK, where JLR manufactures its products. The tariff rate was reduced to 10% later, following the US-UK trade agreement.

Consolidated profit fell about 63% to ₹3,924 crore from ₹10,514 crore a year earlier, missing the consensus estimate of ₹4,055 crore in a Bloomberg poll.

Consolidated revenue was down by 2.5% to ₹104,407 crore.