India’s Tata Motors unveiled a large and unexpected fall in fourth-quarter earnings as the owner of Jaguar Land Rover suffered from the effects of a slowdown in the crucial Chinese market.
The Mumbai-based group on Tuesday said there would be no full-year dividend for the first time since 2002 as the domestic cars and trucks unit, which has long been propped up by the more successful British stable, swung to a net loss.
Once dominant in India, Tata Motors has suffered sharp falls in market share. Amid criticism of out-of-date cars and a prolonged slowdown in the domestic commercial vehicle market, it has been reliant on the highly profitable JLR, which it bought from Ford in 2008 for £1.3bn.