Tata Motors April Sales Figure: A Suppressed Story

Tata Motors the flagship company of Tata Group has came out with its vehicle sales figure for the month of April 2014. The figure shows that the sales of the company were under pressure for the month of April 2014. Whereas the subsidiary of Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sales in North America has been extremely good for the month of April 2014.

JLR in North America reported total sales during April 2014 were 5568 units. The Land Rover (LR) sales during the month of April were 4,533 units, up 28% from 3543 units in April 2013. Whereas, the Jaguar (J), sales were 1035 units, down 9% from 1,141 units in April 2013. JLR Canada reported April sales for both the brands were 509 units, a 25% increase from April 2013. However the sales figures of other countries were not declared by JLR as of now.

The sales of Tata Motors on standalone basis have plunged by around 34% on yearly basis by selling 33892 units for the month of April of FY15. The domestic sales of the company have also reduced by 35% during this month as compared to the same month of previous year. The export was also under pressure as it fell by around 10% to 3222 units for the month of April 2014 as compared to the same month of previous year.

On domestic front, the commercial and passenger vehicles sale was down by 36% compared to corresponding month of last year. The large commercial vehicle (LCV) sales were down by 43% on yearly basis by selling 14804 units for the month of April 2014. In the passenger vehicle, the combined sales of Nano, Indica, Indigo has plunged by around 37% as compared to the same period of previous year. Whereas, the sales in volume of SUV segment comprising of Sumo, Safari, Aria, Venture has reduced by around 33% for the month of April 2014 as compared to the corresponding month of last year. 

It is not that only that Tata Motors has seen the declining sales but most of the vehicle manufacturing companies are facing this problem. The total sales of automakers like, Maruti Suzuki (down by 11%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down by12.44%), Ashok Leyland (down by 21%), Bajaj Auto (down by 4%) has plunged during April 2014. There were some companies like TVS Motor (up by 15%), Hero MotoCorp (14%) etc., skipped the downfall and registered growth in their sales. The noticeable point is that the two wheeler auto makers have posted good sales growth during this month. 

The four wheeler manufacturers have posted weak sales figure due to weak consumer sentiments, higher interest rates, and high inflation. The other reason for the decrease in sales could be because of customers having to abandon themselves from buying vehicles till the declaration of election result. So we can predict at this point of time that after the elections there may be some increase in sales volume.