Record US Land Rover sales fuel Tata Motors' stock rally

Tata Motors climbed the most intraday since August 12, after its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) units' United States sales surged 61 per cent in September, aided by record demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

The stock closed at Rs 315.2, up 6.13 per cent on Monday on the BSE exchange. It was the biggest gainer on the benchmark BSE Sensex, which rose 2.15 per cent.

Demand for the Range Rover and Evoque SUVs carried the Land Rover brand to its best September ever for US deliveries, and a record for sales in the first nine months.

Jaguar sales will get a boost from the introduction of the new XF sedan this year and upgrades of other models in 2016, according to Joe Eberhardt, JLR's chief executive officer for North America. The results are helping offset declining deliveries in China.

"The large increase in the US shows other markets could make up for a decline in China," said Bharat Gianani, analyst at Angel Broking in Mumbai.

"China accounts for a large volume of JLR's sales and is clearly slowing."

JLR's US sales increased to 6,850 units last month. Deliveries rose 19 per cent to 59,619 units in the nine months through September, according to the company.

Land Rover sales rose 26 per cent to a record 48,403 units in the period, while Jaguar deliveries declined five per cent to 11,216 units.

 

Auto sales in the US accelerated more than expected last month, aided by cheap credit, good deals and relatively low gasoline prices.

Industry analysts at LMC Automotive and TrueCar Inc. raised their full-year sales forecasts, with both projecting industry-wide deliveries exceeding 17 million cars and light trucks.