Tata Motors Ltd Chairman’s Speech At 79th AGM On June 24, 2024

Good Afternoon, Ladies and gentlemen. Let me take this opportunity to take you through the backdrop in which your company is operating, the performance last year as well as the plans for the years to come.

While we are seeing growth and stability in India, the global geo-political scenario continues to remain troubled with continuing military conflicts. The coordinated actions by the central banks of several countries have helped moderate inflation albeit the absolute price levels continue to remain high. The economic scenario is expected to stabilize with global growth estimated to be around 3% during the next couple of years.

The structural shifts that we had called out last year when we met, are continuing to evolve. These are i) Energy transition–irreversible move to green mobility, ii) Rebalancing of supply chains to achieve resiliency and iii) Digital acceleration with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning becoming mainstream.

With the turnaround at Tata Motors, I’m pleased to say that the Company is embracing these shifts from a position of strength and confidence.

In the first phase of this ongoing multi-year journey, the company has delivered an excellent performance in FY24. All the three businesses, - Commercial Vehicles (CV), Passenger Vehicles (PV) and JLR, developed and executed on their differentiated strategies to deliver remarkable improvement in performance across metrices – brand health, customer experience, financial, product innovation, and employee engagement.

On a consolidated basis, the company delivered several highs. The total vehicle sales increased 7.4% year on year to over 13.8 lakh units.  Revenues were ? 437.9K Cr, EBITDA was ? 62.8K Cr and net profit of ?31.8K Cr (+?29.1K Cr over the previous year). The India automotive business is now debt-free, and the Company is well on track to make JLR debt-free in FY25.

Due to this strong performance, the Board has recommended a final dividend of ?3 per share to ordinary shareholders and ?3.1 per share to DVR holders and a special dividend of ?3 per share to ordinary shareholders and ?3.1 per share to DVR holders, both subject to your approval today.

Let me talk about the individual businesses.

Passenger Vehicles Business:

The PV & EV business in India delivered a record performance for the third successive year with sales of over 5.7 lakh units (up 6% vs FY23. The sharp focus on emission-friendly technologies has improved the penetration of CNG and electric vehicles to 29% in the overall portfolio. In EVs, the business continued to lead the way with 70%+ market share. We operationalised the new production facility in Sanand within a year of acquiring it.

Our thrust on safety gained credence with Safari and Harrier becoming the first SUVs in the country to get the coveted 5-star safety certification from Bharat NCAP. I must also mention that just a few days ago, Punch.ev and Nexon.ev too received this certification with the best in class 5-star rating making them the first as well in their segment. Further, the top two SUVs sold during FY24 in India – Nexon & Punch, proudly sported the TATA logo.

Commercial Vehicles Business:

The focus on profitable growth resulted in the business recording an annual revenue of ? 78,791 crore in FY24 growing by 11.3% vs FY23 and PBT (bei) of ? 6102 Cr growing by around 90% over last year. Apart from Heavy trucks, Intermediate trucks, Small Commercial Vehicles, Buses and International Business, the company is focused on growing its Non-Vehicular business (spares and service etc.), incubating Smart Mobility (EV mobility solutions for cities) and Digital business (digital solutions for the truck and trip ecosystem).

Tata Motors has a strong market presence built over many decades, a strong brand, a robust technological backbone, and a comprehensive portfolio.

Jaguar Land Rover Business:

Following three years of supply constraints due to semiconductor shortages, inflation, energy crisis and geopolitical instability, JLR has firmly re-established its financial stability in FY24 thereby successfully laying the foundations for the next chapter of its Reimagine strategy. It unveiled a new house of brands approach and the new look of the JLR corporate identity to accelerate the delivery of its vision of being the proud creator of modern luxury. The business recorded its highest-ever annual revenues of £29 billion (+27% YoY), PBT (bei) of £2.1 billion and record free cashflows of £2.3 billion in FY24.

Corporate Actions:

During FY24, the company also undertook several strategic corporate actions to simplify and strengthen its capital structure. These included successfully completing the delisting of its American Depositary Shares from the New York Stock Exchange; diluting a part of its stake in Tata Technologies Ltd through a successful IPO, and securing shareholder approval for a capital reduction scheme for the DVR shares. More recently, we have announced the merger of Tata Motors Finance with Tata Capital Ltd.

Going forward:

While all 3 businesses will continue to focus on improving their financial strength and enhancing customer experience, the strategies they will adopt will get more differentiated, sharpened and refined in line with their market position, brand strength and growth aspirations.

The PV business will focus on Market beating growth, technology, and brand leadership. The business will continue to invest in products, platforms, electrical & electronic architectures, and vehicle software to remain competitive.

The EV business will focus on deepening penetration through multiple product launches, focus on market development, charging network enhancements and continuing to introduce aspirational product features.

The CV business will focus on driving technology and brand leadership to deliver consistent, value accretive growth in the coming years. Apart from vehicular sales, it will also focus on vehicle parc linked businesses like spares, digital and smart mobility solutions which will help reduce the volatility of the vehicle sales business.

JLR will continue to double down on its journey to become a premium luxury OEM, focus on enhanced customer love and continue to invest in products and technologies. There is an exciting range of products lined up to be launched over the next 3 years that needs to be delivered successfully. The first electric Range Rover launches later this year, and there are further EVs lined up in the coming years including the all-electric Jaguar. The Company shall continue to invest in products, platforms, electrical & electronic architectures and vehicle software to provide a world class customer experience to our discerning clientele.

Demerger:

To enable sharper execution of their well differentiated strategies and to further empower each business to pursue it purposefully with greater agility and accountability, the Board has proposed the demerger of the Company into two separate listed companies housing A) the Commercial Vehicles business and its related investments in one entity and B) the Passenger Vehicles businesses including PV, EV, JLR and its related investments in another entity. This will also help secure the considerable synergies across PV, EV and JLR particularly in the areas of EVs, autonomous vehicles, and vehicle software. This will lead each company to deliver a superior experience for customers, better growth prospects for employees and, enhanced value for shareholders.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that we have an exciting journey ahead of us and the management teams are very committed and focused towards accelerating our growth journey. Now before I invite comments from our esteemed shareholders, I request Group CFO, PB Balaji to take you through the performance of the company in greater