Tata motors posts surprise loss due to falling China sales and Tianjin blast damage
Tata Motors, owner of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has posted a surprising $65.4m net loss for 3Q2015 due to a fall in sales in China, once its fastest growing market, and the port explosion in Tianjin, which damaged thousands of its vehicles. The company has been suffering from a sharp drop in market share; it was hit by criticism for out-of-date cars and a prolonged slowdown in the auto market.  It has been relying on UK-based JLR to bring in sales, although, JLR saw retail sales drop 32% in China over the third quarter.  However, there are signs that sales have started rising again in October, after many months of declines.  

The cost of the massive Tianjin port blasts that rocked China in August is still being assessed, and the latest victim to make its damage public is Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile company.

The carmaker—part of the $134 billion Tata Group—said on Nov. 06 that the blast had damaged 5,800 vehicles worth Rs2,493 crore ($379 million) that were stored at the port. All of vehicles belonged to the company’s Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) business.

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Those burnt vehicles were partly responsible for the company reporting a net loss of Rs430 crore ($65 million) for the July-September quarter, compared to a profit of Rs3,200 crore in the same quarter a year ago. It didn’t help that slowing sales in China also added to the slide in revenue.

Acquired from the Ford Motor Company in 2008 for $2.3 billion in an all-cash deal, JLR has emerged as one of the most profitable—and prestigious—divisions for Tata Motors.

Insurance

While there will be some payouts from insurance companies, Tata Motors said that the exact amount is still being assessed.

“The process for finalising an insurance claim may take some months to conclude, so insurance and other potential recoveries will only be recognised in future period when paid or confirmed and have not been recognised in this period,” the company said in a statement (pdf).

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An email sent by Quartz to Tata Motors asking for more details was not answered immediately.

The massive explosions were reportedly triggered by explosive materials that caught fire inside a shipping container, setting off a chain of fires and blasts that killed 44 people and left hundreds injured in the northeastern Chinese port city. In all, the total insurance cost because of the explosions is estimated to be over a billion dollars.