Tata Motors' May Sales Down 24% - Analyst Blog

Tata Motors Limited TTM recorded a 24% decrease in sales to 37,525 vehicles in May 2014 from 49,304 vehicles in May 2013. The automaker's domestic sales of commercial and passenger vehicles also declined 24% to 34,334 in May 2014 from 45,430 vehicles a year ago.

In the commercial vehicles business, Tata Motors' sales for May 2014 in the domestic market declined 27% to 25,104 vehicles from 34,296 vehicles sold in the corresponding month last year.  Sales in the LCV business declined 34% to 15,991 vehicles while M&HCV sales dropped 10% to 9,113 vehicles.

In the passenger vehicles business, Tata Motors' sales for May 2014 went down 17% to 9,230 vehicles from 11,134 vehicles sold in May last year. Sales of the Nano/Indica/Indigo range dropped 22% year over year to 6,932 vehicles from 8,927 vehicles a year ago. On the other hand, sales of the Sumo/Safari/Aria/Venture range vehicles improved 4% year over year to 2,298 vehicles.

Tata Motors' export sales for May 2014 declined 18% to 3,191 vehicles from 3,874 vehicles sold in the previous year.

The automaker posted earnings of Rs. 12.16 per ordinary share (99 cents per American Depositary Share or ADS) for the fourth quarter ending Mar 31, 2014, down from Rs. 12.27 ($1.13 per ADS) in the year-ago quarter.

Consolidated revenues in the quarter escalated 16.6% year over year to Rs. 653.17 billion ($10.6 billion). Strong demand, higher volumes, enhanced product mix and better geographic mix at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) offset the negative impact of the weak operating and economic environment.

Tata Motors is one of the leading automotive manufacturers in India. Currently, Tata Motors carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some other stocks worth considering in the same industry are Gentherm Inc. THRM, Tower International, Inc. TOWR and Magna International Inc. MGA. Gentherm carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Magna and Tower International holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock.