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Jaguar Land Rover hands Tata the biggest loss in Indian corporate history

BENGALURU/NEW DELHI — Jaguar Land Rover's owner Tata Motors Ltd stunned markets by posting the biggest-ever quarterly loss in Indian corporate history of about $4 billion on slumping China sales, sending its shares crashing as much as 30 percent. Tata Motors also warned that the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit, which brings in most of its revenue, would swing to an operating loss for the year versus an earlier projection it would break even, given weak sales at the luxury British carmaker. JLR's China retail sales were cut almost in half in the December quarter as overall demand in the world's biggest auto market contracted last year for the first time since the 1990s. The firm has also been buffeted by Brexit woes and weaker business for diesel cars that account for bulk of its sales in Europe. Tata Motors turned in a third-quarter loss of 269.93 billion rupees ($3.8 billion) on Thursday, more than half its current market capitalization of $6.1 billion, mostly due to a massive impairment at JLR. Analysts were expecting a profit. "We are now taking clear and decisive actions in JLR to step up its competitiveness, reduce costs and improve cash flows and make the business fit for the future," Chief Financial Officer PB Balaji told reporters on a conference call on Thursday. JLR has taken steps to address the slide in China sales by changing its strategy to focus on profits for dealers instead of sales and incentivising retail sales over wholesale, he said. "We are encouraged by continued demand for the refreshed Range Rover and Range Rover Sport," JLR Chief Commercial Officer Felix Brautigam said in a statement. "With deliveries of the new Evoque due to start later this quarter, we look forward to building momentum." But analysts expect JLR to struggle to generate profit with China's economy projected to slow further this year after growth eased to its weakest pace in almost three decades in 2018. JLR's overall retail sales in January plunged 11 percent. The dour numbers prompted Tata investors to make a beeline for the exits as markets opened on Friday, with shares of the company skidding to their lowest in nine years at one point. The stock was down about 20 percent by 0720 GMT near 150 rupees, on track for its sharpest drop since 2003. At least four brokerages cut their price target for Tata Motors shares after its quarterly loss. Analysts at Jefferies pegged the stock at 250 rupees, versus an earlier target of 300 rupees, citing weak performance at JLR.

David Brown Automotive launches old-is-new-again Speedback [w/video]

Back in January, we reported on a new British coachbuilder called David Brown Automotive. In February, the startup released the first details and images of its inaugural project, and now it has revealed the finished product.
It's called Speedback, and it's based on the Jaguar XKR. But while it's built on a modern chassis (relatively, anyway - the XK arrived in 2006 and is soon to be discontinued), it's been rebodied to look like a classic British GT. That means that, while it may look like a classic Aston Martin, it's got a thoroughly modern 5.0-liter supercharged V8 under the hood with over 500 horsepower on tap.
Otherwise, little in the way of details have been disclosed - including what you can bet will be an astronomic price that tends to come with these sorts of coachbuilt customs. But the important parts are what you can see, and that means the finest British craftsmanship inside and out. Whether you like the particular style or not, of course, is entirely a matter of taste.

Jaguar Land Rover calls in handful of vehicles over suspension bolts

With most recalls seemingly affecting mass-market vehicles, it'd be all too easy to assume, consciously or otherwise, that higher-end automobiles never face such issues. But the main reason we don't see the NHTSA recalling more luxury automobiles isn't because of their quality, we'd postulate: it's because of their relative scarcity.
Take Jaguar Land Rover, recalls of whose vehicles we only seem to have cause to report about once a year. So if you're figuring they're about due, here you go. The Indian-owned British auto group has just announced two recalls, both regarding suspension components: one affecting Jaguars and another concerning - you guessed it - Land Rovers.
First up we have a recall for 2013 to 2014 model year Jaguar XJ, XF and XK models - a whopping 297 of them - which have been found to have problematic toe links. Separation of the toe link from the rear sub-frame could result in impaired stability and control over the vehicle's direction, so JLR is calling them in to replace the nuts and washers on the rear toe links.