Cost pressure: Carmakers see strong sales but lower profits

NEW DELHI: Carmakers are selling more vehicles, but higher volumes are not necessarily translating into fatter profits. Rising commodity costs, adverse currency movements and production disruptions are squeezing margins at some of India’s biggest passenger vehicle makers even as demand remains strong.Maruti Suzuki is the clearest example. Its total sales volume jumped 29.3% year-on-year to a record over 6.8 lakh units in the June quarter, while net sales rose 36% to Rs 49,959 crore. Yet net profit fell 10.8% to Rs 3,352 crore. Operating EBITDA declined 6.7% and margin contracted to 8.6% from 12.6% a year earlier.“Higher volumes normally provide operating leverage. In the current environment, part of that benefit is being absorbed by higher input costs,” said Ravi Bhatia, director, Jato Dynamics.Puneet Gupta, director, S&P Global Mobility, said commodity prices have moved up sharply, with copper up around 20% and aluminium around 15%, alongside higher logistics and other costs. Automakers, he said, are absorbing a significant part of these increases rather than passing them on fully to consumers to avoid disrupting sales momentum.

Higher sales fail to lift automakers’ profits as costs rise

Maruti has said material costs rose during the quarter and were aggravated by the West Asia conflict, while a temporary shift to monthly commodity settlements with suppliers as aluminium prices surged also affected margins.Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles’ domestic business delivered 46% volume growth and a 64.8% rise in revenue to Rs 17,900 crore. EBITDA margin was 4.3%, though 30 basis points higher year-on-year. At the consolidated level, including Jaguar Land Rover, revenue rose 9.3% to Rs 95,799 crore while net profit plunged about 80% to Rs 775 crore, hit by JLR supply constraints, commodities and forex.Hyundai Motor India faced a sharper squeeze. Domestic volumes rose 5.4%, but exports fell 19.6%. Revenue slipped marginally to Rs 16,335 crore, while net profit declined 35% to Rs 889 crore. EBITDA margin fell to 9.3% from 13.3%.“There is also a timing effect. Changes in commodity and currency costs can affect OEMs before they are recovered through vehicle pricing,” Bhatia said. Realised pricing, he added, also depends on product and variant mix, discounts, dealer support and financing incentives.Gupta said the pressure is not just cyclical. Automakers are also committing significant capital to new plants and multiple powertrain technologies, including EVs, CNG and plug-in hybrids. “A lot of money is also going into capex, and that obviously eats into current profitability,” he said.