Shares of Tata Motors on Wednesday plunged by nearly 6 per cent and was the top loser on both the benchmark indices after a foreign brokerage reaffirmed a ‘sell’ rating and forecast a 20 per cent potential downside to the stock.

UBS has given a price target of ₹825 per share, which implied a 20 per cent downside from its closing price on the BSE on Tuesday. The weak outlook from the foreign brokerage may have stemmed from news of possible discounts to be offered by subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Tata Motors has cut prices of its popular electric vehicle (EV) models by up to ₹3 lakh. While Tata Motors has said that these reductions are part of its ‘Festival of cars’ campaign running till October 31, it has raised fears that a weak demand has led the company to announce such discounts. There have been reports of significant inventories building up at dealerships.

“With these special prices, we are bridging the gap between EVs and their petrol or diesel-powered counterparts,” Vivek Srivatsa, chief commercial officer of Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, said.

UBS said the extended successful run of JLR’s premium models — the Defender, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport — have started to moderate. It pointed out that the order book for these vehicles have now hit the pre-Covid levels and that the discounts for Range Rover could now rise.

“The question is should investors worry about the JLR discounts spike,” the brokerage asked while not ruling out the possibility of further downside risk of margin slippage at JLR and within Indian passenger vehicles. During the quarter ended June 30, JLR’s operating margins stood at 8.9 per cent.

The bearish forecast from UBS resulted in the Tata Motors share crashing by nearly 6 per cent, which wiped out ₹21,881 crore from its market valuation. On the BSE, the share lost 5.74 per cent to end at ₹976. During the day, it plummeted 6.12 per cent to ₹972. It settled 5.73 per cent lower at ₹976.40 on the NSE.

Ford plant

Ford Motor held talks with Tamil Nadu to explore producing vehicles for export, chief minister M.K. Stalin said, potentially signalling that the US car maker could restart production in India after exiting the country three years ago.

“Had a very engaging discussion with the team from Ford Motors. Explored the feasibility of renewing Ford’s three decade partnership with Tamil Nadu, to again make in Tamil Nadu for the world,” Stalin said in a post on X.

Ford continues to explore suitable alternatives for its plant in Chennai, the automaker said in a statement.

Battery service

JSW MG Motor India on Wednesday launched an electric vehicle with battery as a service ownership plan where customers pay for the vehicle sans the battery and are charged a per km usage fee for the battery. The Windsor Crossover Utility Vehicle is being offered at an introductory price of ₹9.99 lakh plus ₹3.50 per kilometer for battery.

Hyundai Alcazar

Hyundai has launched an Alcazar variant at a starting price of ₹14.99 lakh for the 1.5 litre Turbo GDi petrol and ₹15.99 lakh for the 1.5 litre U2 CRDi Diesel. The Alcazar is Hyundai’s premium 6 and 7-seater SUV.

With inputs from Calcutta Bureau and Reuters