Truck and car maker Tata Motors has seen a turnaround in its fortunes. The company has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,571 crore for FY10, against a loss of Rs 2,505 crore for the earlier year.
The firm has attributed the turnaround in fortunes to increasing sales at Tata Motors and subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover. The numbers are not strictly comparable as the Indian firm had acquired Jaguar Land Rover in early FY09. Analysts say that the consolidated numbers are better than expectations.
Tata Motors recorded a consolidated turnover of Rs 92,519 crore, 30 per cent higher than last year. Increased sales volumes account for part of the increase.
The company saw its domestic sales — in cars and commercial vehicles — increase by 25-45 per cent.
The international business — led by JLR, also saw a 16 per cent increase in volumes. The production of Nano — the Rs 1 lakh car — crossed 30,000 during the year.
The future outlook for the company is somewhat uncertain at the moment — with Europe — a major market for luxury cars, threatening to fall into a crisis.
“The European troubles are mostly factored in the current price, which has fallen almost 20 per cent in the past few weeks,” says Ms Vaishali Jajoo, an auto sector analyst. To break even on their international operations, JLR needs to sell around 17,000 cars every month.