A product mix skewed in favour of commercial vehicles saved the day for Tata Motors this quarter. Commercial vehicle (CV) sales were up 37% overall, though within it shifts were evident. Light commercial vehicle sales, specially Ace, did well.

Nearly half of LCV sales during the quarter were accounted for by Ace. Ace volumes have nearly doubled in the October-December 2005 quarter, which helped the company’s market share in the pick-ups segment rise to 66% from 59% in just one year.

The continued preference for heavy duty trucks hit the medium category (9-12 tonnes) truck sales. Also, the unfavourable South African rand-dollar rate pushed up Tata Motors’ product prices in those markets, reducing sales growth amid competition.

Overall, passenger car sales were up 22%, with a 37% jump in Indica sales and a 22% rise in Safari vehicles. Indigo sales were down by 24% to 6,656 units in the mid-size car market that fell 32%, with greater migration to the newly-launched cars like Swift. Sales could have been still higher but for the fire in the paint shop at the main passenger car plant in Pune in September 2006.

Volume sales displayed a positive trend, cushioning temporary dips in the market. Net sales during the quarter were up 37% to Rs 6,956 crore, while net profit rose 12% to Rs 513 crore. Tight cost control and booming CV sales raised operating margins for the latest quarter to 13.6%, as against 12.2%, and for the year till date, margins have been retained at 12.2%.