NEW DELHI: Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) saw profit collapse in the June quarter as weakness at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and rising input costs overshadowed a sharp expansion in its domestic business.Consolidated net profit fell 80.3% y-o-y to Rs 775 crore, even as revenue from operations increased 9.3% to Rs 95,799 crore. Total expenses rose faster than revenue, climbing 12.1% to Rs 95,338 crore. JLR’s profit after tax dropped 73% to £66 million (around 850 crore) from £248 million a year earlier, while profit before tax declined 68.9% to £109 million. Higher incentives weighed on profitability, with variable marketing expenses rising to 7.1% from 4.1%.While JLR remained the biggest drag on the consolidated numbers, Tata Motors is also bracing for a further increase in commodity costs in Sept quarter, which could trigger additional price hikes. “Q2 is going to hit us badly. Not only us, the industry will get hit with additional increases,” Tata Motors PV MD and CEO Shailesh Chandra said.Commodity inflation alone had an impact equivalent to nearly 4.5% of revenue on Tata’s domestic passenger vehicle business during the June quarter, Chandra said. The company has already raised prices of its ICE and electric vehicle portfolio by up to 1.5% from July 1.Tata Motors, however, does not plan to pass the entire increase on to buyers immediately. Chandra said that price hikes would be “more gradual, more calibrated”. The pressure is particularly acute for electric vehicles, with battery cell costs rising around 10% sequentially. Tata is working on a steeper cost-reduction programme for EVs.
