A part of its turnaround plan is to focus on India—the world’s fourth-largest automobile market—especially because the Covid-19 pandemic has made it even more difficult for JLR to drive demand in its key overseas markets. “Innovations introduced by us have and will continue to strengthen India and its auto sector. India has always been and continues to remain a primary market of interest due to its inherent potential,” Butschek says.

With its new aggressive design strategy, Tata Motors is planning to launch around 12 new models on its Alpha and Omega platforms over the next few years. It is also in the process of spinning off its PV business, including the electric vehicles (EV) unit, into a separate subsidiary through a slump sale. A slump sale will mean that the hived-off entity will not carry any debt of the existing business. This also signals the intention to achieve “mutually beneficial strategic alliances” as market conditions continue to be bitter. This is in keeping with the trend (take the Maruti Suzuki and Toyota, and Ford and Mahindra collaborations). Analysts suggest Volkswagen could be a good option for Tata Motors as its global presence across segments would be an advantage.

“The intention of subsidiarisation is definitely to, at a certain stage, look for a partner,” says Chandra. “Right now the priority remains very clear… that we have to continue on our path of winning sustainably. In October, we grew by 79% as opposed to 18% for the industry. As a long-term choice we will definitely be looking for a partner as we progress.”

Though the worm is turning for its PVs, the challenges in reviving its commercial vehicles (CV) business, which forms the second-largest share (after JLR) of 14% in Tata Motors’s revenue pie, is reflected in its overall numbers. Tata Motors reported a consolidated net loss of `307.30 crore in the quarter ended September, compared to a net loss of `187.70 crore in the year-ago period.

Girish Wagh, the head of the CV business unit, points to the cyclicality of the industry to explain the difficulty the business is facing. “But the good thing is that it has always shown a secular growth trend… [because] the industry is very closely correlated with the economy and GDP growth,” Wagh says. “As an industry, we actually scaled our peak in FY19,” and it can take at least five to eight years to recover.

personal mobility

How Tata Motors is slowly getting its mojo back