Tata Motors ahead

2021 was a rollercoaster year, full of twists and turns. but for one Indian automaker, it went in only one direction: upwards. Tata Motors, whose share price saw an increase of over 150% last year from ~Rs 190/share to ~Rs 480/share, climbed a further 4% (intraday) in the first trading session of 2022. its peers rolled alongside on a good day overall for Indian automakers, spurred by upbeat sales figures for December and the final quarter of 2021.

can they sustain this momentum?

second wind

Tata Motors reported its highest ever monthly, quarterly, and annual sales in 2021 on the back of a stellar performance in December. it rolled out about 35,300 units which proved enough to topple Hyundai, which rolled out around 32,312 units, as India’s second-largest automaker by sales for the month. for the October to December quarter, Tata Motors dispatched approximately 99,000 vehicles and recorded sales of 3.31 lakh units for the year.

significantly, it also reported its first ever sales figures of over 2,000 electric vehicles in a single month. this rounds up an excellent end to the year for the company, which had stood apart from its lagging peers in November.

a cavalcade

as mentioned, it was an overall good day at the markets for Indian automakers. Eicher Motors recorded its highest single day jump (4%) in two months. Ashok Leyland added 1.6%. Hero MotoCorp added 1.2%. Bajaj Auto, TVS Motors, and Maruti each added ~1%. these sales figures are especially heartening, coming as they do in the background of the supply chain crunch causing a shortage of semiconductor chips. not only do they indicate that the manufacturers have been resilient but also that the crunch itself might be abating. 

if that is indeed the case, the pent up demand might lead to happy sales reports for Indian automakers across the board in the months to come. when combined with the multiple price hikes that have been implemented of late, they may augur well for their balance sheets as well, and potentially their performance in the market.