Tata Motors says change of group chairman won't affect investment plans

India’s Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles said on Thursday its investment spending will not change following the exit of parent Tata Sons’ Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, as the carmaker reported an 80% slide in first-quarter earnings.

Tata Motors is the first company in the Tata group to comment on its future plans after Chandrasekaran, 63, said on Wednesday he will not seek reappointment as chairman of Tata Sons, citing the board’s lack of backing after tensions with the charitable arm that controls the group.

His departure has raised investor worries over stability at the sprawling group.

“Tata Motors has a clear strategy and a strong management team focused on execution,” MD and CEO Shailesh Chandra said in a post-earnings call. “We will remain fully focused on driving growth and create sustained value for our stakeholders.”

The automaker recently outlined plans to invest 330 billion to 350 billion rupees ($3.46 billion-$3.67 billion) in its passenger and electric vehicle businesses between FY26 and FY30.

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On Thursday, Tata Motors reported an 80% drop in first-quarter profit, hurt by supply chain constraints at its luxury Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit and rising raw material costs. The firm said higher commodity prices hurt margins in the first quarter and warned that cost pressures would persist through the second quarter.

“The second quarter is going to hit us badly. Not just us, but the whole industry will get hit,” Chandra said, adding thatit expects commodity price pressure to persist until September-end.

JLR, which contributes about 80% to Tata Motors PV’s topline, continued to face challenges as supply constraints, including a fire at a major components supplier, as well as Middle East-related disruptions and the planned wind-down of outgoing Jaguar models weighed on volumes.

However, the company reiterated its target of achieving £1.7 billion ($2.29 billion) in cost savings at JLR over the next two years.

Tata Motors’ domestic business, which sells popular SUV models like Nexa and Punch in India, saw volumes rise 48% year-on-year in its first quarter that ended June 30, driven by strong demand for its newly launched models and electric vehicles.

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Tata Motors also said that it had not received any reports of vehicle failures linked to ethanol-blended fuel, amid debate over a contentious federal policy to cut costly petroleum imports by increasing ethanol blending in petrol.

Total quarterly revenue rose to 957.99 billion rupees on a consolidated basis, from 876.77 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, expected quarterly revenue of 934.28 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.