Tata Motors planning a slew of new models: Mistry

A new executive team and a revamped service back-up have helped the company turnaround its domestic operations under the HorizoNext strategy

Tata Motors is investing heavily to roll out a slew of new models in the passenger and commercial vehicle segments, as also in new technologies to address the varying customer needs so as to make the company future-ready, chairman Cyrus Mistry has said.

In his address to the shareholders in the 70th annual report, Mistry said, "Our strategy hinges on leveraging the long-term growth opportunity both in the domestic as well as global market. Our country is forecast to witness multi-fold increase in motorisation and we are strongly investing in product and technologies to meet the demand arising from that and also to make Tata Motors future ready."

Tata Motors, which has been on a downward spiral for the past many years, has of late recouped some of the lost grounds with the three recent launches - the sedan Zest, the hatchback Bolt and the souped up Nano - which helped the company report high double digit sales numbers since January.

A new executive team and a revamped service back-up have also helped the company turnaround its domestic operations under the HorizoNext strategy, which its late president Karl Slym had launched two years ago.

Tata Motors has been reporting heavy losses for the past three years and in the fourth quarter of FY 2014-15 it reported a massive 56.2 per cent plunge in the net profit at Rs 1,716 crore (Rs 17.16 billion) due to huge asset write-downs, pound 220-million forex loss and poor show by its cash-cow British arm Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

During the March quarter, the company had incurred a whopping Rs 3,857 crore (Rs 38.57 billion) in amortisation and depreciation expenses.

Tata Motors consolidated net profit for FY 2014-15 inched down to Rs 13,986 crore (Rs 139.86 billion) from Rs 13,991 crore (Rs 139.91 billion) despite a 13 per cent jump in revenue at Rs 2,62,796 crore (Rs 2,627.96 billion), out of which JLR contributed around 85 per cent.

For the second quarter in a row, even its marquee JLR reported a massive 32.7 per cent fall in net at pound 302 million from pound 449 million during the same period of FY 2013-14.

On a standalone basis, Tata Motors India net loss for the March quarter widened to Rs 1,164.25 crore (Rs 11.64 billion) from Rs 816.61 crore (Rs 8.62 billion) in the year-ago period as it took a write-down following three new model launches - Bolt, Zest and a new Nano - at the double the original price during the fiscal.

As of end March 2015, its standalone debt stood at Rs 21,340 crore (Rs 213.4 billion) while consolidated debt at Rs 73,600 crore (Rs 736 billion).

The company has already announced Rs 3,000-4,000 crore (Rs 30-40 billion) capital investments this fiscal to tap all segments, while the company will be spending a whopping pound 3.5 billion in Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which has been bringing in the entire profit for the group for the past some years.

"As leaders in the commercial vehicle industry, Tata Motors is developing a strong pipeline of products and solutions. In the passenger car space, we will continue to excite the market with new and innovative products that will seize the imagination of customers," Mistry told the shareholders.

For JLR, which has been helping the parent remain solvent, this year will be important, Mistry said.

"With continued investments in new products, the pipeline for the business remains strong for sustained growth in the future," Mistry added.

JLR will launch the Jaguar XE and the Discovery Sport worldwide this year, Mistry said.