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"Formidable company at low end of car market, and making inroads into the high end"![]() |
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Increase in Jaguar sales helps the company |
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Increase in Jaguar sales helps the company![]() |
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Falling Oil and Commodity prices |
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Falling Oil and Commodity prices![]() |
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Facing the perfect storm |
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Facing the perfect storm![]() |
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Gas on the rise |
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Gas on the rise![]() |
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Misleading Reports Raise Concerns |
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Misleading Reports Raise Concerns![]() |
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Established in 1945, Tata Motors Limited (NYSE:TTM) is India's largest automobile company with revenues of Rs 31,884.69 crore in FY 2007.[1] It is the largest producer of commercial vehicles, and the second largest in the passenger vehicles market in India.[1] The company is the world's fifth largest medium and heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer, and the world's second largest medium and heavy bus manufacturer.[1]
Over 4 million Tata vehicles ply on Indian roads.[1] It is the first company from India's engineering sector to be listed in the New York Stock Exchange. In its efforts to internalize its operations, Tata Motors acquired the Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company, Korea's second largest truck maker in 2004.[2] Two-thirds of heavy commercial vehicle exports out of South Korea are from this subsidiary.[1] It also acquired Jaguar Land Rover to gain a foothold in the luxury sports car and SUV market in June 2008.[3] It paid $2.3 billion for the deal and raised 3 billion bride loan for the deal.[4]The Jaguar Land Rover unit after posting profit in FY2007, again started loosing money and posted a loss of $383million in the first 6 months of FY2008.[5]
Tata Motors has diversified in to a range of activities all related to the automobile industry. Through its subsidiaries, the company is involved in engineering and automotive products, construction equipment manufacturing, automotive vehicle components manufacturing and supply chain activities, machine tools and factory automation products, high-precision tooling, electronic components for automotive and computer applications, and automotive retailing and service operations.[6]The company's manufacturing base is spread across India. In the east they are based in Jamshedpur (Jharkhand). Pune (Maharashtra) is their main centre for the west. In the north Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Pantnagar (Uttarakhand).[7] A new plant to manufacture Nano which was being constructed in West Bengal has been moved to Kuch District in Gujarat.[8]
TTM focuses on Research and Development and has over 2,500 engineers and scientists working for the company’s Engineering Research Centre.[7] The company has R&D centres in Pune, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, in India, and in South Korea, Spain, and the UK.[7] It has developed the first commercially viable prototype of air power car.[9] On 25th July 2008, It also announced to launch the electric version of Nano in Europe by Dec 2009.[10]The company’s dealership, sales, services and spare parts network comprises over 3500 touch points; TTM also distributes and markets Fiat branded cars in India.[7] The company also has a strong auto finance operation, TML Financial Services Limited, supporting customers to purchase Tata Motors vehicles.[11]The company actively markets its passenger cars and commercial vehicles to countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, South East Asia and South Asia.[12] It has its operations in more than 40 countries across six continents, and its companies export products and services to 140 nations.[12]
From FY2003 to FY 2007, sales revenues have grown from Rs 10,840.70 crore to Rs 31,884.69 crore, at average annual rate of over 38%.[13] In the same period, net profit grew by over 107% average annual growth rate.[13]. In FY2008, due to general economic slowdown, the sales of TTM in the quarter ending December fell by 43% as compared to the same quarter in FY2007. With the fall in sales, the operating margin fell from 11.5% to 1.64% and the net profit margin fell from 9.03% to -5.42%.[14]For the first time in 7 years, TTM posted quarterly loss in Dec 2008.[15]
The total debt to equity ratio of TTM has risen steadily from 0.53 in March 2006 to 0.8 in March 2008.[16] This has been due to a thrust on research & development activities. After the buyout of Jaguar Land rover using bridge loans, the debt to equity ratio has gone up to 1.21.[17] Tata Motors has further announced to inject more equity capital in to the balance sheet of Jaguar Land rover as and when required to stave off an immediate cash crisis.[18]
Share holding pattern: The promoters namely, Tata Sons and group companies, owns 41.78% of TTM. The promoters stake increased from 33% to 41.78% after additional Rs 3,000 crore were invested after to buy the unsubscribed portion of the rights issue in Oct 2008. Banks financial institutions and Insurance companies own another 15.21%. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Equity Fund and SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme are the mutual funds invested in the firm, with 0.109% and 0.098% ownership respectively.[19]
| Entity | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Tata Sons and group companies | 41.78% |
| Banks Fin. Inst. and Insurance | 15.21% |
| Others | 13.42% |
| General public | 10.70% |
| FII's | 9.18 % |
| NRI's/OCB's/Foreign Others | 6.33% |
| Private Corporate Bodies | 9.17% |
| Government | 0.09% |
| Directors/Employees | 0.03% |
Tata Motors operates in four main automobile segments which cover the range of products in the automobile segments in India.
Passenger Cars:(30.5% of total units sold) This segment accounts for 30.5% of the total production volume.[21] During FY 2008, 182,292 units of gasoline and diesel engine versions were manufactured and sold.[21] This division also distributes Fiat branded cars in India.[22]TTM has a presence in the compact car, mid-sized car and station wagon segment of the market in the form of Indica, Indigo and Indigo Marina and their variants.[23] In FY 2008, the passenger car industry grew by 11.9% in India, but the TTM sales in this segment declined by 7.3% due to no new product launches.[21]The market share of TTM in this segment declined from 15.6% to 13.3%.[24] All the passenger cars are manufactured at plants at Pimpri and Chinchwad district in Maharashtra.[25]
Tata Motors is in the process of launching "Nano", an affordable family car with a price tag of Rs. 1,00,000(around $2200) for the developing world. The project was delayed as the public opposition and political problems forced the management to abandon the plant site at Singur, West Bengal and shift it to Gujarat.[26] TTM has announced that the car would be launched by the end of March 2009.[27]
Utility Vehicles:(8.4% of total units sold) TTM entered the utility vehicle with the launch of Tata Sumo in 1994.[28] Later it also entered SUV segment with the launch of Tata Safari in 1998.[28] This segment accounts for 8.4% of the total production volume.[21] The sales in this segment were 47,530 units, a decline 0.8% as compared to 47,892 units in FY 2007.[28] The overall market share in this category is 20.1%.[28] TTM lost 2% of the market share due to lack of any new, product or a variant of the existing product in this segment.[28]All the utility vehicles are manufactured at plants at Pimpri and Chinchwad district in Maharashtra.[25]
Light Commercial Vehicles:(29.1% of total units sold) TTM manufactures light commercial vehicles including pickup trucks, trucks and buses with gross vehicle weight(GVW) of between 0.7 ton and 7.5 tons.[29] This segment grew by 17.2% growth to 147,316 units sold in the Indian domestic market in FY 2008 and constituted 29.1% of the total units sold.[30] TTM entered this category by indigenously developing a low priced product Ace(mini-truck) with a 0.7 ton payload in fiscal 2006. In FY2008, TTM launched two other products, Magic a passenger variant of Ace and Winger.[30] It also announced to introduce CNG variant of the Ace, the Tata Cargo Panel Van, a lifestyle pickup truck(Xenon XT) and an office concept vehicle at the Auto Expo 2008 in India.[30]TTM has a market share of 64.2% in this segment.[24] The light commercial vehicles are manufactured at plants in Lucknow and Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh.[25]
Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles:(32% of total units sold) TTM manufactures medium and heavy commercial vehicles which include trucks, buses, dumpers and multi-axled vehicles with GVW of between 9 tons to 49 tons.[31] In addition, through Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company Limited, or TDCV, a wholly-owned subsidiary in South Korea, TTM manufactures high horsepower trucks ranging from 220 horsepower to 400 horsepower, including dump trucks, tractor-trailers, mixers and cargo vehicles.[31]This segment constituted 32% of the total volumes in FY2008. During the same period it declined by 4.2% to 165,619 units as compared to FY2007.[32]The decline was due to the lack of availability of vehicle finance from outside sources and constraints in the components and aggregates supply chain.[32] TTM has a market share of 64.17% in this segment. In India, Tata motors manufactures the Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles at manufacturing plants at Jamshedpur, Chattisgard and Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.[25]
Automobile industry is a cyclical industry. It is substantially affected by general economic conditions. The demand is influenced by factors including the growth rate of the economy, easy availability of credit, increase in disposable income, interest rates, freight rates and oil prices.[33] Lack of vehicle finance availability, lower growth on GDP and/or increases in fuel prices lead to a decline in the demand for automobiles. The Indian economy has shown a sharp decline in GDP from 7.1% in the 2nd quarter of FY2008-09 to 5.3% in 3rd quarter of FY2008-09.[34] The decrease in freight rates due to slowdown of economy also leads to decrease in demand for commercial vehicles as expansion of fleet size is stopped. The freight rates dropped by 9.4% in 2008.[35] Despite the 62% decline in the international gasoline prices, the gasoline prices have dropped by only 10% in India.[36] All this factors have affected the sales of TTM. In Feb 2009, the sales in commercial vehicles segment showed a decline of 53% as compared to that of Feb 2008.[37] Furthermore, the turnaround and integration of the Jaguar and Land Rover business, might also be affected as the operations in over 165 countries have to managed for the acquired companies.[33]
Tata Motors bought Jaguar Land rover from Ford Motor Company in June 2008 for $2.3 billion. A bridge loan from a syndicate of banks were used to finance the deal.[38] The success of the takeover depends on the ability of TTM to fully integrate with Jaguar Land Rover and turn around the business. The economic slump in 2008, has led to fall in sales of the cars and made turnaround of the business difficult. By Dec 2008, TTM had to refinance the bridge loans in order to adjust for the lower sales.[38]The Jaguar Land Rover unit after posting profit in FY2007, again started loosing money and posted a loss of $383million in the first 6 months of FY2008.[5]
TTM has lost market share in its passenger car and utility vehicles segment because of no new product launch. Although new variants have been introduced time and again, they have not been able to sustain the consumer interest as competitors have come up with new product launches.[39] The Nano plant in Singur, West Bengal also had to be abandoned because of public protest and political complications. This has caused delays in the launch of Nano, which was originally scheduled to be launched in Feb 2009.[40]
The value of the Indian Rupee(INR) compared to the U.S. dollar impacts the value of ADR shares of TTM and its business operations. Tata Motor's stock is listed on the NYSE.[41] An increase in the value of the INR translates to higher share price and dividend payments in the ADR shares all else constant. An appreciating INR can purchase more U.S. dollar. However, on the flip side, a strengthening INR adversely impacts the export earnings of TTM.The Company’s exports constitute 9.8% of the revenues and imports constitute 4.6% of material consumption.[42] TTM undertakes steps to hedge the currency risk for its operational requirements, but a weakening of the rupee against the dollar or other major foreign currencies adversely affects the cost of borrowing and consequently increase the financing costs.[42] Additionally, with the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, around 66% of TTM revenues are contributed by this subsidiary.[43] The fluctuations in the value of the British Pound against the dollar and other currencies like Indian rupee would affect the net profits.[42]
Passenger Cars:
Utility Vehicles:
Light Commercial Vehicles:
Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles:
Financial Comparison of the competitors:
| Financial metrics FY2007 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Revenue in Rs Crore | Net Profit Margin | Operating Margin |
| Maruti Suzuki[53] | 17,860 | 9.34% | 13.84% |
| Hyundai[54] | 33,46,021 | 2.81% | 4.09% |
| Toyota[55] | 14,31,096 | 5.80% | 8.64% |
| Mahendra & Mahendra[56] | 30,150 | 10.34% | 11.45% |
| Ashok Leyland[57] | 7,729 | 5.83% | 10.09% |
| Honda[58] | 6,55,892 | 4.24% | 7.94% |
| Swaraj Mazda[59] | 671 | 3.75% | 7.80% |
TTM lost its market share in Passenger cars as no new model was launched, and the luxury car segment where TTM has no existing model, grew at a faster rate then the industry.[60] The loss of market share in the utility vehicles was due to problems in production ramp up of the Sumo Grande model. Whereas the commercial vehicles market share dropped because of the lack of credit availability.[61]Given below is the market share data for different segments in the industry.
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