Jaguar Land Rover trims losses amid China turnaround

Parent Tata has been hit by the worst-ever slump in India’s auto market

Tata Motors bought the maker of the Jaguar XE sedan and Land Rover Discovery sport utility vehicle from Ford Motor Company in 2008.Courtesy: Jaguar Land Rover
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Jaguar Land Rover’s Indian owner reported a narrower loss than expected in the second quarter after the British luxury unit turned profitable working through a cost-cutting program.

Tata Motors lost 2.17 billion rupees ($31 million) in the three months ended September 30, compared with a loss of 10.5 billion rupees a year earlier, the company said Friday. Analysts on average expected a loss of 16.35 billion rupees, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Demand for Jaguar Land Rover vehicles in China in now stabilising, PB Balaji, group chief financial officer, said on a conference call with reporters. The brand has suffered from quality issues and troubles with its dealership network in the world’s biggest auto market, while parent Tata has been hit by the worst-ever slump in India’s auto market.

After struggling in China, and dealing with the fallout from the ongoing uncertainty around Brexit, JLR has almost completed a £2.5 billion ($3.2bn) savings drive that includes cutting thousands of jobs worldwide, the carmaker said Friday. Tata Motors bought the maker of the Jaguar XE sedan and Land Rover Discovery sport utility vehicle from Ford Motor Company in 2008. JLR’s pretax profit for the quarter was £156 million.

Analysts at Sanford C Bernstein last month described JLR as “severely challenged” and said Tata Motors should look at BMW as a buyer for the unit because the German company is “awash with cash.” Tata Group, the Indian conglomerate that owns Tata Motors, is open to finding partners for the automaker but isn’t planning on selling the embattled division, chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said in an interview this month.