Tata Motors' net profit dipped 50 per cent

Auto major Tata Motors hit hard by the demand contraction and unavailability of finance throughout the year and finally posted a 50.65 per cent fall in its net profit at Rs 1,001.26 crore for the FY 2008-09 compared to Rs 2,028.92 crore a year ago. The company released its FY results through a statement on Friday. The total income from operations in FY'09 also declined by 10.71 per cent to Rs 25,660.79 crore from Rs 28,739.41 crore in FY'08, it said. The company retained its domestic leadership position in commercial vehicles, and continued to be amongst the top three in passenger vehicles. Domestic commercial vehicles sales amounted to 265,373 units (2007-08: 312,935 units). The company increased market share in commercial vehicles to 63.8% (2007-08: 62.2%), aided by its wide product offering. Domestic passenger vehicles sales amounted to 207,512 units (2007-08: 218,055 units). The launch of the second generation Tata Indica Vista and the continuing good run of the Tata Indigo CS has helped recover market share in passenger vehicles in the second half which stands at 13.1% for the year (2007-08: 14%) and a March exit share of 14.5%. Tata Motors ’ exports were 33,536 numbers (2007-08: 54,659 numbers), impacted by the worldwide downturn in the industry.