PremiumTalking about the impact of the pandemic, the Tata Motors Chairman N Chandrasekaran said that crisis has hampered consumer demand as well as supply chain and retail networks
Tata Motors lost 91 people from its ecosystem to Covid-19, informed Chairman N Chandrasekaran during the virtual annual general meeting on Friday. The company "will do everything" in its power the families of employees who succumbed to the virus, he added.
"For our company, Tata Motors, it was a very difficult year. Our immediate focus during the year was the safety and well-being of our employees and our ecosystem partners. Despite our best efforts, we lost 91 people in this fight. Our heartfelt condolences to their families and loved ones," Chandrasekaran said while talking to the shareholders.
Chandrasekaran assured that the company "will do everything" it can to support the families of the deceased.
Talking about the impact of the pandemic, the Tata Motors' Chairman said that crisis has hampered consumer demand as well as supply chain and retail networks.
"To address this crisis, we put in place a comprehensive business continuity plan. Our agile and ecosystem-centric ways of working helped us to absorb the initial shock of total lockdowns," Chandrasekaran added.
He noted that as the demand started coming back, Tata Motors "shifted gears to significantly scale up capacities and move fast to serve customer demand and thereby ending the year on a much stronger note."
Even after facing the difficulties of the last fiscal year, which "has been amongst the most challenging to date", Tata Motors is well on the way to become a zero-debt company.
"The company declared a goal to become a zero debt company by FY24. Last year with internal cash flows and tight management were able to reduce the debt by over ₹7,500 crore. And we are very much on our path and stay committed to meet our target of FY24," Chandrasekaran told shareholders.
In the quarter ended June 31, 2021, Tata Motors reported net automotive debt of ₹61,286 crore.
Chandrasekaran said the company's three fundamental strong businesses - India passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and JLR - although run independently, have drawn synergies wherever possible by facilitating strong collaboration.
The businesses have achieved a lot of efficiency through various transformation initiatives in such a way that the breakeven volumes have come down in each of these businesses, he said.
"So we believe the company is well poised to capture and deliver very strong financial performance as the volumes pick up in each one of these individual segments as the demand picks up in the commercial vehicles, and the supply side issues get resolved in the passenger car businesses and JLR businesses in addition to additional pickup in demand," he added.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!
