Tata Motors only Nifty stock to double in 2023

Shares of Tata Motors rose as much as 6% on Friday to cross the ₹800 mark for the first time, making it the only Nifty 50 stock that doubled this year.

The Tata Motors stock opened at ₹755 against its previous closing price of ₹753.90 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Shares of the automaker hit an all-time high of ₹802.90 in intraday trade today.

This comes days after India's largest electric carmaker launched two EV-exclusive showrooms in Gurugram. The Tata Group company plans to open new EV showrooms across Tier-I and Tier-II cities in the next 12-18 months. The carmaker currently displays one or two EVs at its ICE showrooms.

Tata Motors' market share in the country's fast-growing EV segment is 75%. EVs account for just 2% of overall car sales in India.

"Setting up EV showrooms depends on a lot of factors such as good location. We plan to cover a majority of towns where EV penetration is going up," Vivek Srivatsa, head - marketing, sales & service strategy, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, tells Fortune India.

In cities, where the carmaker starts exclusive EV showrooms, ICE dealers would stop selling EVs. This, according to Srivatsa, will ensure uniform experience while buying EVs.

Tata Motors expects to sell around 70,000 EVs in 2023. "We are already at about 60% sales growth over last year in EVs," says Srivatsa.

Having separate showrooms for EVs will help the automaker to showcase more electric cars as it expands its EV portfolio next year. Tata Motors will launch Harrier EV and Curvv EV in 2024.

"We feel that as long as EVs are sold in traditional outlets, both ICE and EV growth gets limited because of limited display space. Tomorrow, we will have new EVs coming up, where will we put those cars? If you don't put the car, you don't sell. If you put the car, it may come at the cost of ICE sale. So this gives breathing space to both the businesses," says Srivatsa.

EVs constitute 13-15% of Tata Motors' domestic passenger vehicle sales.

It's not just the domestic passenger vehicle business driving up the Tata Motors stock. Its luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) halved its break-even volume threshold to 300,000 units in FY23, from 600,000 in FY19, thanks to its focus on high-margin SUVs.

Profitable cars, including Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender, contributed 77% to the 168,000 order book at the end of Q2 FY24.

JLR's revenue grew 30% to £6.9 billion in Q2 FY24 and net debt halved to £2.2 billion in the 12 months to September 2023. JLR aims to slash its debt to less than £1 billion by the end of FY24 and become net cash positive by FY25.

Tata Motors' upcoming premium e-SUV range Avinya will be based on JLR's EMA (Electrified Modular Architecture) platform, accelerating the carmaker’s entry into the Gen 3 EV segment.