VEHICLE SALES AND MARKET SHARES
The Tata Motors Group sales for the year stood at 10,20,546 vehicles, lower by 14.4% as compared to FY 2012-13. Global sales of all Commercial Vehicles were 432,600 vehicles, while sales of Passenger Vehicles were at 587,946 vehicles.
TATA MOTORS
Tata Motors recorded sales of 569,677 vehicles, a decline of 30.2% over FY 2012-13. Industry decline during the year was at 9.3%, resulting in the Company's market share decreasing to 16.6% in the Indian automotive industry from 22.1% in the previous year. The Company exported 49,922 vehicles, lower by 2.0%, as compared to FY 2012-13.
Commercial Vehicles
Within the domestic market, the Company sold 3,77,909 Commercial Vehicles (CV) , a decline of 29.5% from FY 2012-13. This represented a market leadership share of 54.1% in the domestic CV market which was mainly supported by consolidation in M&HCV segment.
Some of the highlights for the year were:
- While the overall industry of M&HCV sales declined, the Company was able to improve market share by 1.6% to stand at 54.9%. A series of products were launched in this segment to augment the portfolio of product offerings and increase market share. These included the Prima LX series of trucks –a perfect combination of economy and technology - 2523T, 3123T, 4028S (Single reduction and Hub reduction) and 4928S(Single reduction and Hub reduction), 4923.S LX, Prima 4938 Tractor, 3138K Tipper, LPT 3723 - India's first 5 axle truck and LPK 3118, and Prima LX series of Tippers - 2523K, 3123K, 2528K and 3128K.
- Other activities to stimulate market sentiments included the pioneering T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship event as well as the successful value added services, power of fivecampaign for trucks focusing on – 1) Better KMPL, 2) Best Vehicle Uptime, 3) Highest Resale Value, 4) Best in class four year warranty, and 5) Lowest maintenance cost and five powerful offerings – a) Triple benefit insurance, b) Increased Oil change interval, c) four Year AMC, d) Tata Alert, and e) Fleetman.
- The bus segment also witnessed reversal in market share through intensive sales efforts coupled with launch of buses with mechanical Fuel Injection Pump (FIP), introduction of Starbus Ultra in Stage carriage, marketing initiatives such as 'Humare Bus Ki Baat Hain' and 'Dream it to win it' program. The warranty for M&HCV buses and trucks were increased to three years and four years respectively, symbolizing improvement in quality. The 'Tata Alert' service, to return a vehicle back on road within 48 hours, has been expanded across all national highways.
- The LCV segment, which registered good growth last year, did not continue its run this year. More specifically a decline in SCV segment due to vehicle financing constraints was a major problem. Fund availability is the most critical element for SCV segment. The high default rates in CV loans coupled with early delinquencies have instigated financiers to tighten lending norms, reduce the (LTV) ratio with focus on collections impacted the SCV Cargo and SCV Passenger segments quite sharply. Some of launches this year included the Ace and Magic DICOR and facelifts.
Passenger Vehicles
The domestic passenger car industry was affected mainly by weak sentiments, high cost of ownership, high interest rates, fuel prices and reduction in discretionary spends. Overall growth in the domestic passenger vehicle industry was negative by 4.7% in FY 2013-14. During the year, the Company's Passenger Vehicles sales were lower by 38.1% at 141,846 vehicles, registering a 5.8% market share. However, the premium and luxury segment of the Company grew by 73.3% compared to last year. The Company sold 1,09,279 cars and 32,567 utility vehicles and vans, lower by 39.5% and 33.3% respectively, over the previous year. The Company's sales in the mid-size segment suffered as competitive activity intensified with multiple new launches in this segment. The Company has taken various initiatives to improve its performances such as product refreshes/launch programmes, operational efficiency, dealer effectiveness, working capital management and restructuring customer facing functions. The Company sold 2,805 vehicles of Jaguar Land Rover brands during FY 2013-14, a growth of 12.5%. This performance was driven by Jaguar XF sales that grew by 119% in FY 2013-14. The estimated market share increased from 9% to 10% in FY 2013-14. The JLR dealer network in India grew from 18 to 21 outlets by addition of 3 3S facilities, besides setting up 2 2S Workshops, and 11 Used Car Outlets.
Some of the highlights of this year's performance were:
- Unveiled the Horizonext Strategy in the Delhi Expo.
- Announced the launch of the all new Bolt Hatchback and Zest Sedan in the second half of the next fiscal.
- Launched the refreshed Sumo Gold with improved clutch and performance and new enhanced versions of Tata Indigo e-CS, Tata Nano and Tata Indica.
- Launched the Nano Twist with power steering.
- Launched the E-max range of CNG and petrol bi-fuel systems. - Tata Indica CNG, Tata Indigo CNG and Tata Nano CNG.
- Launched new Safari Storme Explorer edition.
- Showcased the Nexon compact UV and Connected car concept at the Delhi Expo.
- The above launches of the Nano Twist, E-max, Sumo Gold refresh and unveiling of the Bolt, Zest and Connected Car concept were in-line with the Company's objective of taking the brand to a higher level, while making it relevant for the younger buyer. The Company continued to focus on building brand strengths, refreshing products and enhancing sales and service experience. The Company expanded it's new look, stylish, tech savvy best in class flagship Passenger Vehicle showrooms, for superior customer experience.
- More than 10 major Jaguar and Land Rover product actions in India including major launches of Jaguar F-TYPE and the all-new Range Rover Sport. Land Rover Experience (Dynamic Drive Off-road Experiences), launch of 1st ever Land Rover Expedition and after-sales customer engagement initiatives were carried out by setting up Service Clinics in various cities.
Exports
For Tata Motors, traditionally strong markets in South Asia such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were affected by internal conflict, political unrest and regulatory changes, especially in first half of FY 2013-14. While sales partially rebounded in second half of FY 2013-14 in Bangladesh and Nepal as a net result, export sales of the Company de-grew by 2% to 49,922 vehicles comprising 43,083 units of CVs and 6,839 units of PVs. With a view to expand its International Business, the Company has entered new markets like Australia and Indonesia and has also prepared to enter Malaysia and Philippines in early FY 2014-15. The Company introduced a host of new products on existing and new platforms in existing and new markets and showcased its vehicles in major auto shows in strategically important markets.
The Company continued to outperform competition in terms of exports of Commercial Vehicles and enjoyed a total CV exports share of 57% in FY 2013-14. Shipments for M & HCV Trucks grew by 34% in FY 2013-14 contributing significantly to the top line and the bottom line of the company. The shipments of SAARC countries and RHD African countries including South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia grew by 6% and 12% respectively. The opening of new markets in Australia and Indonesia made up for some of the shortfall in the Middle East and LHD Africa countries.
The Company exported 6,839 Passenger Vehicles. Indica grew (+29%), Indigo grew (+70%) led by Bangladesh, Safari Storme had a strong debut with 115% growth and Sumo showed steady performance (+2.2%) and was the best-selling vehicle name-plate in Nepal. Tata Passenger vehicles debuted in Philippines and Brunei and also witnessed regular orders from Indonesia.
The Company was awarded the EEPC 'Star Performer Award' for outstanding contribution in Engineering Exports in the Motor Vehicle – Large Enterprise category. Members attention is also drawn on various export initiatives under 'Foreign Exchange Earnings and Outgo' in the Annexure.
JAGUAR LAND ROVER
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) had a successful year of continued growth in all markets with overall volumes up by 16%, reflecting continued product successes including the launch of the new Range Rover Sport and Jaguar F-TYPE and a full year of sales of the new Range Rover. More established models have also been performing well, in particular derivatives such as the XF Sportbrake and all-wheel drive and smaller engine options across the range. Retail volumes have grown across all markets, led by China up by 34% from last year to record retail sales of 103,077; North America and Asia Pacific regions also performed strongly, up by 20% and 28% to 75,671 and 22,795 respectively; UK and Europe, partly reflecting the economic headwinds, showed more modest growth, up by 6% and 2% to 76,721 and 82,854 units respectively. Wholesale volumes for FY 2013-14 were 429,861 units, an increase of 16% on FY 2012-13. At a brand level, wholesale volumes were 79,307 units for Jaguar and 350,554 units for Land Rover, reflecting growth of 37% and 11.6% respectively.
Some of the highlights of this year's performance were:
- Launch of the all new aluminum Range Rover Sport in March 2013, with a worldwide roll out in the first half of FY 2013-14.
- Continued growth of the expanded Jaguar XF range with all wheel drive Version, new Sportbrake and smaller and more fuel efficient engine options for the XF and XJ, launch of the new Jaguar F-TYPE.
- The F-TYPE went on sale to retail customers from April 2013 onwards and since then has received numerous awards and appreciation by the auto media. In November 2013, Jaguar unveiled the F-TYPE Coupé which went on sale in April 2014. In 2013, the F-TYPE won Germany's most prestigious automotive award, the Golden Steering Wheel and the "World Car Design of the Year" award, as well as the "Convertible of the Year" award from Top Gear.
- At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2013, Jaguar revealed its first ever crossover concept vehicle, the Jaguar C X17, based on a new modular scalable advanced aluminum architecture, which will allow Jaguar to grow its product portfolio and target high growth areas of the premium market, beginning with a new mid-sized sedan in 2015. It later announced that the new mid-sized sedan will be named "Jaguar XE" at the Geneva Auto show in March 2014 and this will be launched in early 2015.
- The new "Discovery Vision" Concept car was unveiled at New York International Auto Show in April 2014. Land Rover Discovery Sport (Freelander replacement) was announced as first new member of Discovery family to be launched in late 2014.
- Jaguar Land Rover's joint venture with Chery Automobiles, China has been progressing well to develop, manufacture and sell certain Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles and jointly branded vehicles for the Chinese market. The production will start in FY 2014-15.
- Continued investment in new state-of-the-art facility at Wolverhampton, UK, to manufacture new advanced low emission engines from FY 2014-15.
- The Company and Jaguar Land Rover participated in various international auto shows displaying its range of products, including at Geneva, New York, Detroit and Jakarta, wherein the displayed products won accolades and a positive response.
- In addition, JLR has also committed to a manufacturing facility in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Further, JLR has signed a Letter of Intent with the National Industrial Clusters Development Program (NICDP) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for set-up of an automotive facility.
Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company Limited
Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company Limited (TDCV) sold 10,600 vehicles, higher by 5% over FY 2012-13. TDCV Domestic sales were at 6,584 vehicles, 2nd highest in its history, registering a growth of 21.9% compared to 5,400 vehicles sold in previous year. However, in Export market sales at 4,016 vehicles was lower by 14.6% compared to 4,700 vehicles of last year mainly due to adverse economic conditions in global markets.
Tata Motors (Thailand) Limited
Tata Motors Thailand Limited (TMTL) sold 2,480 vehicles in the FY 2013-14, a year which saw the automotive market in Thailand drop over the previous year by almost 24%. The Super Ace vehicles that are currently sold as CBU imports from India showed encouraging signs of acceptability in the market. TMTL continued to expand its dealer network in order to cover most of the provinces in the country. TMTL also dispatched the first lot of test vehicles to Malaysia where regular exports of Xenon are planned beginning FY 2014-15.
Tata Motors (SA) (PTY) Limited
Tata Motors (SA) (Pty) Ltd (TMSA) sold 821 chassis for the South Africa market in FY 2013-14. TMSA homologated three new models in the LCV category, including a bus chassis LP713 for the first time. It also collaborated with TDCV to assemble a pilot lot of 6 chassis of a tractor truck model with the objective of expanding the TATA presence in the fastest growing (extra Heavy) segment of commercial vehicles in South Africa.
Tata Motors Finance Limited
The vehicle financing activity is being carried under the brand "Tata Motors Finance" of Tata Motors Finance Limited (TMFL) - a wholly owned subsidiary company.
The sluggish macroeconomic environment and consequent lower demand of all Commercial and Passenger Vehicles led to a significant decline in disbursements. Total disbursements for the year were at Rs.8,768 crores - 22% lower than disbursements of Rs.11,180 crores in FY 2012-13. A total of 1,57,886 vehicles were financed representing a decline of 38% over the previous year. The disbursals for commercial vehicle were Rs.7,504 crores (1,23,989 vehicles) in FY 2013-14 compared to Rs.8,815 crores (1,83,514 vehicles) for FY 2012-13. For passenger cars, disbursals were Rs.1,214 crores (32,637 vehicles) in FY 2013-14 compared to Rs.2,364 crores (70,563 vehicles) in the previous year. The overall market share in terms of the Tata vehicle unit sales in India financed by Tata Motors Finance declined from 33% to 30%.
With a view to de-risk the portfolio and explore additional sources of revenue, the Used Vehicle Finance business was re-launched by seeding the business in select geographies during the year. Disbursements achieved under refinance were at Rs.50 crores (1,260 vehicles) during the current year as against Rs.2 crores (9 vehicles) in FY 2012-13.
TMFL continued to expand its reach in the market place by opening a number of branches including limited services branches exclusively in Tier 2 and 3 towns. This has also helped in reducing the turn-around times to improve customer satisfaction.
TMFL has further enhanced its "Office of the Customer initiative" and is confident that these investments will pay rich dividends through significantly increased interactions/relations with its customers and dealers. With a highly motivated employee workforce, significantly greater customer orientation and an increased branch network/field infrastructure, TMFL is poised for significant, sustainable growth and is confident that it would deliver on its vision for the future.