Tata MotorsPassenger

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Ujjaini Dutta

BENGALURU, Oct 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Few people know Tata Consultancy as well as N Chandrasekaran. He spent three decades at the $78 billion outsourcer, including eight years as CEO before becoming its chair and also taking charge of Tata Sons, the holding company of the wider Indian conglomerate. But with Chandra now at the centre of a power struggle at the salt-to-steel group, concerns over his bandwidth to steer the IT giant through AI disruption will surface.

The company's latest quarterly earnings on Thursday underscore the problem. Revenue for the three months to the end of September grew to about 732 billion rupees ($7.6 billion), up just 2.8% in constant currency terms. Though its annualised AI services revenue jumped 19% to $3.1 billion from the preceding three months, it accounts for just 10% of the top line. Tata Consultancy's TCS.NS deal pipeline at $9.6 billion was down 4% year-on-year. The net margin contracted 60 basis points to 19%.

To shore up growth, Chandra has stepped up his direct involvement in recent months. That has coincided with a flurry of unusual deals. In August, Tata Consultancy acquired Porsche's P911_p.DE automotive and consulting unit. Last week, it took over US consumer electronics retailer Best Buy’s BBY.N global capability centre in India. The IT firm has also pivoted into capital-intensive investments by building data centres, with OpenAI as one of the customers.

For Chandra to be a hands-on chair while the company confronts the AI challenge makes sense. He knows the company well, and Tata Consultancy is the conglomerate's cash engine, accounting for 89% of Tata Sons' profit for the 2026 financial year. Problem is, he is also chair at at least seven other group companies including Tata Steel TISC.NS, Tata Motors <TAMO.NS, TATM.NS, Tata Power TTPW.NS and Air India. With both the airline and the IT group in need of a big reset, Chandra already looked spread thin.

Now he's locked in an all-out war with Noel Tata, chair of Tata Trusts, which owns 66% of Tata Sons. Not only does that limit the time Chandra has to focus on the operating companies but it also raises a question mark over how long he'll be around to try. Tata Consultancy investors appear to favour him staying: shares fell when his position looked most threatened by the trusts and rebounded after Chandra dug in his heels.

Either way, it leaves K Krithivasan squarely with the job of seeing Tata Consultancy through the AI disruption and emerging from his predecessor's shadow. Since taking over as CEO in 2023, around the time the new tech cycle began disrupting IT services firms, Tata Consultancy's shares have lagged Infosys INFY.NS, HCLTech HCLT.NS and Wipro WIPR.NS. The shares rallied as much as 4% on Friday morning on faster AI revenue growth but that looks through a rather obvious key-man risk.

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BRV-BRV/akpelnoaqvr/chart.png

Follow Ujjaini Dutta on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Tata Consultancy Services on October 8 reported revenue of 731.88 billion Indian rupees ($7.6 billion) in ⁠the quarter to the end of September 2026, up 11% year-on-year, or 2.8% in constant currency terms.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on DUTTA/[email protected]))

Oct 7 (Reuters) - Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled its new Jaguar Type 01 electric car, with an ultra-long bonnet, no rear window and a wealth of technology, in New York as it targets the potential for growth in the US market.

The UK-based luxury carmaker, which is owned by India's Tata Motors TATM.NS, said the Type 01, an electric four-door GT car, in subtle, muted shades, with a starting price of $130,500, marks the "beginning of a new generation of Jaguar vehicles and a transformative new era".

The high price tag represents a gamble in the US, where enthusiasm for EVs has been lower than in Europe.

JLR, however, plans to sharpen its focus on its US customer base as Europe's automotive industry, particularly electric vehicles, has been pressured by competitively priced Chinese cars, tariff costs and disruptions from the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The Type 01's design harks back to the 1960s E-type Jaguar sports cars that have been treasured by collectors and follows on from the 2024 unveiling of the Jaguar Type 00 radical concept car in bright pink as part of the auto maker's brand relaunch.

The Type 00 and relaunch drew criticism from car enthusiasts and some politicians.

JLR is also seeking to recover from a cyberattack that halted production and disrupted suppliers last year. As part of a turnaround plan, it announced last month it would reduce nearly 10% of its workforce through voluntary redundancies over the next two years.

As part of the shakeup, it has committed to shifting its entire lineup to EVs, even though some industry executives have said they are unconvinced that wealthy car buyers want to go electric.

Earlier this year Ferrari’s first attempt at an EV was heavily criticised because it looks nothing like the Italian luxury automaker’s petrol models.

Last month Bentley unveiled its first EV, which will be priced at the bottom end of its range.

Lamborghini has ruled out an EV before the end of the decade and McLaren said last month it had no plans to go electric because customers have shown no interest in moving on from their petrol-engine models.

(Reporting by Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; editing by Barbara Lewis)

(([email protected], +919920570373))

Rewrites with analyst, industry body president comments

By Kashish Tandon and Saikeerthi .

Oct 6 (Reuters) - India's September tractor retail sales declined 12.6% from a month earlier as the worst monsoon in a decade and a delayed festive season weighed on farm equipment demand, even as broader auto sales stayed resilient, a dealers' body said on Tuesday.

Tractor sales fell to 76,906 units in September from 87,977 in August, according to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations.

The decline comes as the June-September monsoon, which delivers nearly 70% of India's annual rainfall, was 12.6% below normal this year, fuelling concerns over crop yields, rural demand and food inflation in Asia's third-largest economy.

Historically, September and October have been the strongest months for tractor wholesales, but a later-than-usual festive season and below-normal rainfall have hurt demand this year, said Yash Agrawal, an auto analyst at brokerage Nirmal Bang.

"Over-reliance on weather conditions is higher for tractors because they are directly impacted by crop production and overall cash flow of farmers," Agrawal said.

The slowdown could have wider implications for automakers including Mahindra & Mahindra MAHM.NS and Escorts Kubota ESCO.NS, as tractors are among their highest-margin businesses.

FADA President Sai Giridhar said the weakness was largely confined to tractors, arguing that rural vehicle demand was increasingly detached from farm incomes as non-agricultural businesses and employment gain prominence.

"Only the tractor segment is directly linked to farm income," Giridhar said, adding that rural sales of passenger and commercial vehicles as well as two-wheelers were growing at a pace comparable with, or exceeding, urban sales.

Overall retail sales of two-wheelers, passenger and commercial vehicles rose 31.8% year-on-year and nearly 5% from the previous month to 2.54 million units.

Dealers' sentiment was upbeat heading into the festive season, with more than three-fourths in a survey expecting sales to grow in October, supported by healthy enquiries, the dealers' body said.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Saikeerthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected];))

By Aditi Shah and Maki Shiraki

MUMBAI/TOKYO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Honda Motor 7267.T aims to cut costs by as much as a fifth and halve development times under its new partnership in India with Tata Technologies TATE.NS, according to two people familiar with the matter, as pressure from rivals forces the Japanese automaker to rethink its go-it-alone approach.

Reeling from electric vehicle (EV)-related losses that it expects to reach more than $12 billion, Honda is pivoting to gasoline-electric hybrids and slashing expenses. Last month, Reuters reported that it is seeking to cut more than $9 billion in costs over the next four years and has told suppliers to drastically reduce prices.

In May, engineering firm Tata Technologies said it was selected to develop vehicles for a Japanese automaker. It declined to name the partner, but the two people and another person familiar with the matter said it was Honda.

Under the outsourcing agreement, Tata Technologies will develop cars for the Indian market, while Honda expects to see up to 20% in cost reductions and halve its development times from around five years at present, two people said.

Honda decided to bring in Tata Technologies after the automaker's Japanese and Indian managers failed to agree on which suppliers to use for upcoming vehicles in India, two of the people said.

All three sources declined to be identified because the information has not been made public. The cost-cutting and development targets in India, as well as the internal deadlock over supplier strategy, are being reported for the first time.

In a statement, Honda said it has not been able to offer a sufficient product line-up in India that allows customers "value for money." To that end, it was "redefining" its offerings in India and planned to introduce vehicles that strike a balance between quality and price, it said.

It denied there were disagreements between the Japanese and Indian teams over supplier selection.

In a separate statement, Honda India said product development involved close collaboration between different teams, adding that it was inaccurate to characterise collaborative discussions as disagreements.

Tata Technologies did not respond to a request for comment.

STRATEGY DEADLOCK

Japanese managers wanted to retain established suppliers to ensure quality and consistency, while Honda's team in India pushed for greater use of local suppliers to lower costs and speed up development in the world's third-largest car market, two of the people said.

Reuters could not determine how long the deadlock lasted but the disagreement was enough to delay work on some products, the two people said. The partnership had been under discussion for about two years before being finalised, one of them added.

Tata Technologies, which was spun off from Indian automaker Tata Motors TAMO.NS, was chosen because of its access to a broad network of local suppliers and because Honda managers believed it could design vehicles in line with consumer tastes and spending preferences, the person said.

Honda will oversee the process to ensure quality standards are met and will retain control over areas like technology, connectivity and driver-assistance systems, the person added.

FAMOUS INDEPENDENCE

Honda has long carried the imprint of its famously independent late founder, Soichiro Honda. It developed two of the world's best-selling cars, the Civic and the Accord, along with the most popular motorcycle of all time, the Super Cub.

Like other Japanese automakers, Honda faces the difficult balancing act of defending its legacy business in places like the US while developing new technologies to compete with Chinese firms elsewhere. India, a fast-growing market that remains closed to Chinese EV makers, has become more important.

But Honda's market share there has slumped to 1.3% from a peak of 7.3% more than a decade ago. Its portfolio has shrunk to four models and it is losing to affordable, feature-packed rivals like Tata Motors and Mahindra MAHM.NS. It also has little to offer in the biggest and fastest-growing SUV segment.

"Honda is already late and behind competitors," one of the people said.

Honda President Toshihiro Mibe is under pressure to turn around the automaker, which recorded its first-ever annual loss in the last financial year.

In May, Mibe said that while India was a "key focus" for Honda, the automaker had not always been successful there.

"We need to rebuild the business on an entirely different footing," he said.

Previously, Honda adapted for India cars that were originally designed for Japan or other global markets. That resulted in it offering vehicles that were seen as over-engineered and pricey.

The first vehicle under development with Tata Technologies is a small SUV that is less than 4 metres (13.1 feet) in length, a segment that accounts for a large portion of India's car market and where Honda has limited presence. It is targeted for launch in 2028, two of the people said.

A second, mid-size SUV is expected to follow, with Honda later trying to revive its strength in sedans, one of them added.

In its statement, Honda said it planned to launch vehicles in India in the sub-4-metre category and the larger midsize category from 2028 onwards.

India is Honda's only major emerging market and it wants to make manufacturing and sourcing there more competitive.

If the first product under the deal is successful in terms of quality, sales and profitability, it will open opportunities for Honda to export from India, one of the people said.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah and Maki Shiraki; Additional reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by David Dolan and Thomas Derpinghaus)

(([email protected];))

Adds graphics

By Kashish Tandon and Aishwarya Jain

Oct 1 (Reuters) - India's weakest monsoon in over a decade dented rural spending in September and weighed on tractor sales, data showed on Thursday, while urban demand supported sales of passenger vehicles.

The June-September monsoon, which delivers nearly 70% of India's annual rainfall, was 12.6% below normal this year, fuelling concerns over crop yields, rural demand and food inflation in Asia's No.3 economy.

Mahindra & Mahindra MAHM.NS, India's largest tractor maker, reported a 21% drop in tractor sales during the month, while smaller rival Escorts Kubota ESCO.NS posted a 16.7% decline.

Performance was dented by a patchy monsoon and relatively lower monsoon crop sowing, Escorts Kubota said.

"Lower farm incomes and, as a result, rising rural indebtedness hurt purchasing power and demand for consumer goods and services, while supply shortages can push up food prices and stoke inflationary pressures," said Rohit Azad, an economics professor at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The slowdown mirrors a broader pullback in farm spending.

Last week, agriculture company Rallis India RALL.NS said farmers were reducing purchases of pesticides, fertilisers and seeds to conserve cash after the weak monsoon and poorer harvests.

Kranthi Bathini, director of equity strategy at WealthMills Securities, highlighted how uneven rainfall and drought-like conditions in parts of India had hurt the agrarian economy.

"That weakness is visible in segments closely tied to rural demand, such as two-wheelers and tractors," Bathini said.

Bajaj Auto's BAJA.NS domestic two-wheeler sales also declined 12% in September.

The delayed start of the festive season further weighed on sales. Festivals begin in October this year, compared with September last year, when they boosted demand for vehicles and other big-ticket purchases.

Passenger vehicle sales, however, remained strong on urban demand.

Hyundai Motor India HYUN.NS posted record monthly sales, while Maruti Suzuki MRTI.NS, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle TAMO.NS and Mahindra & Mahindra reported double-digit growth.

(Reporting by Saikeerthi and Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Dhanya Skariachan and Harikrishnan Nair)

(([email protected]))

Sept 29 (Reuters) -

• TATA TRUSTS CHAIRMAN: IN OUR VIEW REORGANISATION OF TATA SONS FITS INTO CENTRAL BANK'S GUIDELINES AND AVOID LISTING

• TATA TRUSTS CHAIRMAN: WE HOPE THE RBI WILL ENGAGE WITH US ON THIS AND FIND A SOLUTION TO AVOID LISTING

• TATA TRUSTS CHAIRMAN: LISTING WILL CHANGE THE WAY THE COMPANY AND GROUP HAS FUNCTIONED FOR OVER 150 YEARS

(([email protected];))

By Nick Carey, Gilles Guillaume and Kalea Hall

LONDON/PARIS/DETROIT, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Western automakers are chasing a defence spending boom as a way to sell more vehicles and make use of underemployed factories, though executives say military work will not make up for slowing car sales and growing Chinese competition.

Automakers including Ford F.N, General Motors GM.N and Jaguar Land Rover are bidding for military contracts using modified versions of pickup trucks and off-road vehicles they already produce, while others are selling underused plants to defence manufacturers expanding capacity.

The industry is tapping into rising Western defence spending, but executives and analysts told Reuters the opportunities to materially boost revenue remain limited.

"In reality all of these opportunities will have very little financial impact," said Jefferies auto analyst Vanessa Jeffriess, adding that automakers face slowing demand and intensifying competition from Chinese rivals, putting them under pressure to at least show investors they are trying to diversify.

GM, the biggest US automaker, expects its defence division to generate revenue of $700 million this year and grow by 30% annually for several years. But that would put revenue at about $1.5 billion in 2029, less than 1% of group revenue of $185 billion in 2025.

Traditional US and European automakers are losing market share in China to home-grown rivals like BYD 002594.SZ and Geely GEELY.UL, while Chinese brands are expanding rapidly into Europe and emerging markets to offset weak domestic demand, squeezing profit margins and leaving Western manufacturers with excess capacity.

Most major automakers ditched military contracts decades ago, but as governments from Europe to North America ramp up military spending, defence has emerged as one of the few growth sectors for the industry.

ALREADY PRODUCING AT SCALE

Analysts see the most realistic opportunities in assets that automakers already have.

Ford's European head Jim Baumbick said providing the military with vehicles fits with the company's existing strengths of providing "tough vehicles with high payloads".

Ford, GM and Britain's JLR are among companies bidding for a £900 million ($1.2 billion) UK Ministry of Defence vehicle contract, initially for 3,000 vehicles, using modified versions of trucks and off-road vehicles they already make.

Ford is bidding with its Ranger pickup truck, while two models in GM's bid are retrofitted Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks which will be modified for UK military use. JLR, a unit of India's Tata Motors TAMO.NS, is bidding with its off-road Defender model, and all are betting that decades of engineering, manufacturing scale and global supply chains can give them the edge over specialist defence firms.

"They're such capable trucks from the beginning, that's not a heavy lift," said Gilbert Nelson, GM Defense's vice president for international sales and marketing, referring to the modifications required for military use.

JLR North America CEO and former head of the Defender brand Mark Cameron said the automaker has also had discussions "with lots of countries across Europe... and further afield" about similar tenders due in the next 12 to 18 months.

Cameron said using a vehicle JLR already makes at scale was "strategically valuable" though the company was not dependent on it.

FINDING BUYERS FOR FACTORIES

Another attractive proposition for the auto industry is being able to offload surplus manufacturing capacity to companies looking to expand production in defence without the cost of building from scratch.

Italy's Stellantis STLAM.MI is planning to sell an idled Canadian factory to armoured-vehicle maker Roshel while earlier this month Germany's Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE agreed to sell its Osnabrueck plant to Israel's Aurelius Capital and the German state of Lower Saxony for a project with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Analysts said factory disposals rather than diversifying production are one of the clearest benefits from the defence boom.

"There's been a lot of talk," about diversifying into defence production, said Ian Henry, director of consultancy AutoAnalysis. "But there's not been a lot of concrete action."

Suppliers could also emerge as bigger beneficiaries of rising defence spending. Unlike vehicle assembly plants, their smaller and more flexible production lines can often be adapted to military programmes with limited investment.

"Car assembly lines are just not geared for making components," because they are too large, AutoAnalysis' Henry said.

For suppliers, the defence industry "drives growth, which the automotive market does not," Christophe Perillat, CEO of French supplier Valeo VLOF.PA said in July, adding that military contracts also offered higher profit margins than traditional automotive business.

French supplier Forvia FRVIA.PA is using its existing production capacity to explore military opportunities, CFO Olivier Durand said.

"The industrial investment required is very low... so it's quite an attractive prospect," he said.

Forvia also recently signed a deal to transfer a factory in Germany and 300 staff to defence firm General Dynamics GD.N.

CORE BUSINESS REMAINS VEHICLES

Some automakers are pushing further into defence in the US and France. Renault RENA.PA plans to produce 1,000 military drones per month starting next year with French defence technology firm Thales TCFP.PA, though executives acknowledge the scale is small compared with its automotive operations.

Oddo BHF auto analyst Michael Foundoukidis said Renault makes about 10,000 vehicles a day.

JLR, which makes over 100,000 Defenders a year, is avoiding branching out and competing with specialist companies. JLR's Cameron said automakers would face formidable competition in unfamiliar sectors.

"Our core business is vehicles," he said. "We don't want to stray into any offshoots."

($1 = 0.7413 pounds)

(Reporting Nick Carey, Gilles Guillaume and Kalea Hall;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

(([email protected];))

By Jayshree P Upadhyay and Arpan Chaturvedi

MUMBAI, Sept 18 (Reuters) - India's Tata Group, which owns Jaguar Land Rover and Air India, is facing its worst crisis in years, pitting the board of its holding company against its controlling charity arm and raising questions about the future of the 158-year-old conglomerate.

Here is an explainer on the complex dispute that has embroiled the salt-to-aviation group, which has annual revenues of over $180 billion.

WHAT IS THE TUSSLE ABOUT?

Tata Sons and its controlling charity arm, Tata Trusts, have been at odds for months over issues including a potential listing of Tata Sons, Air India's mounting losses and a planned exit of a minority shareholder.

The board of Tata Sons, the group's holding company, reappointed Natarajan Chandrasekaran as its chairman for another five years on Thursday, despite opposition from the head of Tata Trusts.

After the decision, Tata Trusts publicly protested against Chandrasekaran's reappointment, calling it in breach of internal rules, and also opposing any stock market listing of Tata Sons, warning it would "destroy" the character of a group majority-owned by charities.

WHO RUNS POWERFUL TATA TRUSTS AND WHAT'S THE HISTORY?

Tata Trusts owns 66% of Tata Sons, and is led by Noel Tata, a member of the conglomerate's founding family.

Dividends received from the operating companies flow through the Trusts into public charity.

The Tatas are Parsis, descendants of Zoroastrians who fled Persia and are believed to have settled in western India from around the eighth century.

Chandrasekaran is not from the Tata family but joined the group in 1987.

IF TRUSTS ARE SO POWERFUL, WHY CAN'T THEY ASSERT THEIR DEMANDS?

The Tata Trusts have problems of their own that are currently blunting their control over the conglomerate.

The Trusts are an umbrella of affiliated charities, and one of the two biggest - Sir Ratan Tata Trust - alone owns 23.6% of Tata Sons. A charity regulator has barred that trust from convening its trustees in a dispute over how they were appointed, leaving it unable to take decisions.

On the face of it, the charity arm's 66% stake would let it override almost any decision of Tata Sons. But the regulatory bar means it cannot hold a meeting, and so cannot push its agenda for now.

HOW BIG IS THE TATA GROUP AND WHO ARE ITS CLIENTS?

Tata Group was founded in 1868 and operates in more than 100 countries across six continents.

Tata Sons controls more than 30 Tata companies including IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, Tata Motors TAMO.NS and one of the world's oldest steelmakers, Tata Steel TISC.NS. It counts Apple AAPL.O and Tesla TSLA.O among its clients, and Starbucks as its partner.

Tata companies generated combined revenue of $185 billion in the last financial year. Its 26 listed companies had a combined market capitalisation of $277 billion as of March 31, 2026, Tata's website says.

Each of these businesses runs with an independent board and management.

WHAT IS THE CHARITY ARM'S VIEW AND DISCONNECT WITH THE TATA SONS BOARD?

Tata Trusts has argued that a chairman's appointment and any decision on listing at Tata Sons required the vote of both Trusts nominees on the board - Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan, the other key player in the saga.

Noel Tata disagreed with the chairman's reappointment, but Srinivasan did not - showing divisions within Trusts nominees.

Noel Tata is arguing the reappointment is illegal as the two trustee votes diverged. The Tata Sons view is there is nothing wrong as the reappointment was done through a majority vote.

WHY IS A PUBLIC LISTING SUCH A BIG STICKING POINT?

The dispute comes days after the ⁠Reserve Bank of India rejected Tata Sons' request for an exemption from rules that would require it to list.

The Tata Sons board is agreeable to a stock market listing, it decided during Thursday's board meeting, but Noel Tata is not.

In a statement late on Thursday, Tata Trusts said the holding company must explore alternatives, arguing the Tata operating structure was unique as its majority shareholder is a charity, and a "listing will destroy its character and strike at ​the heart of this principle."

Shapoorji Pallonji Group, the second-largest shareholder in Tata Sons, backed a ​potential listing of the holding company. The group is headed by Shapoor Mistry, whose sister is married to Noel Tata.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

Legal experts say Tata Trusts can approach a court to seek overturning the reappointment of the Tata Sons chairman and the board's decision to consider a stock market listing, despite the opposition of the majority shareholder.

Tata Trusts could also use an upcoming annual general meeting of Tata Sons in December to block Chandrasekaran's reappointment, but they first need to resolve their internal disputes.

(Editing by Aditya Kalra and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

(([email protected]; +91-9833024892;))

Sept 17 (Reuters) - Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd TAMO.NS:

• TATA SONS PVT LTD- TATA TRUSTS RESOLVED THAT N CHANDRASEKARAN BE RE-APPOINTED AS EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN FOR A FURTHER TERM OF FIVE YEARS

• TATA SONS: ALSO RESOLVED TO INITIATE STEPS TO COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE RBI GUIDELINES AND WILL SEEK GUIDANCE FROM RBI, TATA TRUSTS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS ON APPLICABLE COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: TAMO.NS

(([email protected];))

Sept 16 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

• KPMG said it will cut about 200 more UK-based consultant roles in the coming weeks, as too few employees were leaving voluntarily.

  
  

  
  

• Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group FRAS.L is facing investor oppositionafter its finance chief Chris Wootton received a £100,000 ($134,730.00) bonus for securing £3 billion ($4.04 billion) in financing.

The Guardian

• The Bank of England is poised to halt its sales of long-term government bonds which have been hit by a global sell-off in debt markets.
  
  

• Infrastructure and construction firm Kier Group KIE.L said it will pause housebuilding and shift its focus to road and hospital projects to strengthen its balance sheet.

The Telegraph

• UK chancellor John Healey is in talks with the Canadian government about joining the proposed Canada-led defence, security and resilience bank (DSRB), which could help the UK fund defence projects at a lower cost.
  
  

• Jaguar Land Rover TAMO.NS is in talks with NATO countries to sell the Defender military vehicles, as the UK-based carmaker aims to capitalise on Europe’s defence spending boom.
  

Sky News

• University of Glasgow spinout, Chemify which uses robots and AI to discover new medicines has secured £22 million ($29.65 million) in grants from Scottish Enterprise and the UK government.

($1 = 0.7422 pounds)

($1 = 0.7420 pounds)

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)

(([email protected]))

Sept 15 (Reuters) -

• SIAM - INDIA'S AUG 3-WHEELER SALES 93,764 UNITS

• SIAM - INDIA FESTIVE DEMAND SEASON EXPECTED TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL BOOST, RESULTING IN HEALTHY Q2 NUMBERS

• INDIA AUTO INDUSTRY BODY SIAM - INDIA'S AUG TOTAL DOMESTIC PASSENGER VEHICLE SALES 4,39,309 UNITS

• INDIA'S AUG 2-WHEELER SALES 2.03 MLN UNITS

(([email protected];))

By Aditi Shah and Phuong Nguyen

NEW DELHI/HANOI, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Vietnamese automaker VinFast VFS.O plans to develop two new electric vehicles for the Indian market, five sources told Reuters, in a strategic shift made just weeks after it suspended plans to manufacture some of its global models there.

The move marks a departure from VinFast's earlier attempt to adapt existing vehicles for India - a market the money-losing carmaker sees as a chance for growth after it struggled to reach scale in the United States and Europe.

It has pledged to invest $2 billion in India, where it opened its first factory outside Vietnam last year. It wants to build the operation into a regional manufacturing base serving South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

VinFast has begun initial discussions with suppliers in India for the two new models, internally codenamed VF X and VF Y, but talks are at an early stage, two of the sources said.

The sources, all of whom declined to be identified as the discussions are private, said plans for the car are still being evaluated and could change.

A VinFast spokesperson declined to comment, saying that information about new products would be announced at "the appropriate time".

HIGH COSTS PROMPTED STRATEGY SHIFT

VinFast in July suspended plans to manufacture three of its current global models, the VF 3, VF 6 and VF 7, in India after it determined it would not be able to bring costs down enough to sell at the prices it had targeted, Reuters reported last week.

The automaker currently sells two models in India - the VF 6 and VF 7 - which are imported as kits from Vietnam and assembled at its India factory. VinFast has said it plans to continue with assembly of the two models.

In August, VinFast executives flew in from Vietnam to meet about 200 Indian suppliers to discuss the company's plans for the world's third-largest car market, two of the sources said.

VinFast has chosen to involve Indian suppliers from the outset to iron out pricing and costs early in the development process and avoid a repeat of the same issues, one of the sources said.

The automaker wants to create a compact, affordable model smaller than its current VF 6 crossover SUV but a little bigger than its two-door SUV, VF 3, so it meets local consumer preferences for a spacious vehicle, the source said.

It is still refining the design, this person said, adding that one challenge was striking a balance between the vehicle's size and its cost.

VinFast is targeting the VF X as an entry-level offering for India and wants to price it below $12,000, two of the sources said. That is roughly what it charges for the VF 3 in Vietnam, one of its more affordable models there. In India, plans to locally manufacture the same VF 3 were among those paused.

Meanwhile, the VF 6 currently sold in India is priced at about $19,000 for the base model, and the VF 7 starts at $24,250.

VINFAST IS BETTING BIG ON INDIA

A car priced less than $12,000 will put VinFast in one of the biggest EV segments dominated by Indian automaker Tata Motors TAMO.NS but will also be the hardest to crack.

EV sales in India have been on the rise since the Iran war as gasoline prices increased. Electric models currently make up over 7% of total car sales and the government wants to grow this to 30% by 2030.

Instead of doing everything from scratch, VinFast wants to work with components and tools already available with suppliers in the country to build a new product for India, said a sixth source aware of the company's local plans.

Backed by Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup VIC.HM, VinFast started selling cars in India in September 2025 and has so far retailed about 10,000 vehicles. It has broader ambitions in India, including in real estate, education and healthcare.

Its assembly plant has an initial production capacity of 50,000 cars a year and is scalable to 150,000. VinFast said it has received investment approval for the plant's second phase expansion.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah in New Delhi and Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi, additional reporting by Praveen Pramasivam in Chennai; Editing by David Dolan and Kim Coghill)

(([email protected]; +91-11-4954 8023, +91-11-3015 8023; Reuters Messaging: twitter: @aditishahsays))

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles scheduled physical group meetings with analysts and institutional investors for September 11, 2026, at noon and 4pm. The listed participants included Helios Capital Management, Enam Investment & Services, Invesco Mutual Fund, SBI Pension Fund and Nippon India Mutual Fund. The company held a similar physical group meeting with 38 institutions on September 2. Its August 2026 sales totalled 67,753 vehicles, including 65,253 domestic passenger vehicles and 16,549 electric vehicles.

Powered by Tijori

JLR, the wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, said it would reduce its global workforce by about 4,000 roles over the next two years as part of a strategic transformation programme. The company said the reductions were not expected to affect direct manufacturing jobs and would be achieved through voluntary means wherever possible, with consultation on the first round beginning immediately. The programme formed part of JLR's Growth Reimagined strategy announced on 19 June, which targeted approximately £1.7 billion of savings over two years and break-even at about 300,000 units, alongside a commitment to invest £15-18 billion over five years. JLR employed 43,000 people globally and accounted for about 81% of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles' FY26 consolidated revenue of roughly ₹3,35,600 crore.

Powered by Tijori

The following factors could affect Italian markets on Monday.

Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).

POLITICS

Italy's rising far-right politician Roberto Vannacci told a high profile business forum on Saturday that the European Union should halt political integration and start defending its cultural identity instead, prompting former Prime Minister Mario Monti to warn against his "fascist rhetoric."

ECONOMY

Italy's economy could grow by as much as 1% this year, above the latest official government estimate of 0.6%, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Sunday, as the government prepares to update its budget plan.

Bank of Italy publishes August data on Italy's liabilities within the Eurosystem via Target2 (0730 GMT).

DEBT

Treasury to detail sale of BTP bonds at auction on September 10.

The Treasury said on Friday it would offer €9 billion in BOT bills at an auction on September 9.

ENERGY SECTOR

Italy's deputy prime minister suggested on Friday banks and energy companies should be ready to bring forward tax payments to help boost public finances without an official tax hike.

Italy's government said on Friday it will extend until September 10 a cut in excise duties on diesel introduced to offset higher costs at the pump.

Jarrod Agen, the Executive Director of the United States National Energy Dominance Council told daily La Repubblica in an interview published on Sunday that the US is building more LNG terminals in Europe, and Italy will be part of the push.

COMPANIES

MONTE DEI PASCHI (MPS) BMPS.MI, INTESA ISP.MI, BANCO BPM BAMI.MI, BANCA GENERALI BGN.MI

Economy Minister Giorgetti told reporters on Sunday the government would not interfere in M&A moves affecting MPS, reiterating Rome's previously-stated neutral stance on the current banking consolidation process.

The Treasury will not sell its 4.9% stake in MPS before the ongoing tussle for control of the Tuscan lender is concluded, he added.

Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, a top shareholder in holding company Delfin, said on Sunday that Delfin's main focus should be its stake in eye-wear company EssilorLuxottica ESLX.PA rather its investment in MPS, in which it has a 17.5% stake.

"Banks are a financial investment. The industrial investment that must be protected is EssilorLuxottica," he said.

ENI ENI.MI

The state-controlled energy group has improved its chances of recovering more than $2.3 billion owed to it by Venezuela with the signing this week of a new oil project deal in the country, analysts said on Friday.

National Energy Dominance Council Jarrod Agen said on Sunday that Eni had signed a "huge deal" in the Latin American country last week.

Private investments in the biofuel sector in Europe could boost gross domestic product by up to €66 billion, supporting over 33,000 jobs, according a research published on Saturday by consultancy firm The European House Ambrosetti Group and Eni and was published on Saturday.

ENEL ENEI.MI

The energy company has asked Brazil's power regulator Aneel to annul proceedings aimed at terminating its Sao Paulo distribution concession, saying the regulator failed to conduct a structured analysis of the impact on consumers.

AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR

The head of Italian auto part maker lobby ANFIA, Roberto Vavassori, called for trade tariffs of up to 80% against Chinese car imports in an interview with Corriere della Sera on Sunday. Vavassori said the crisis of German automaker Volkswagen VOWG.DE is a signal that the European sector could be decimated.

ICOP ICOP.MI

The engineering group said on Friday it saw its proposed acquisition of rival Trevi TFI.MI as a key accelerator for growth, but its chief executive warned it won't pursue the deal at any cost after Webuild WBD.MI launched a competing bid for the company.

IVECO IVG.MI

The tender offer by India's Tata Motors TAMO.AS for the truck and bus maker will run from September 7 to October 26, according to a statement published after Italian market regulator Consob approved the offer document.

(*) JUVENTUS JUVE.MI

The Turin-based club drew 1-1 at home to AC Milan on Sunday, leaving them with 7 points from the first three matches of the season.

(*) LOTTOMATICA LTMC.MI

The Italian gaming coming company said on Monday it was targeting €200-300 million incremental online EBITDA by the third year from the closing of its deal with Spanish group Cirsa.

(*) SECO IOT.MI

The Italian company on Monday announced a partnership with Germany's Neura Robotics to industrialise and scale physical AI.

For Italian market data and news, click on codes in

brackets:

20 biggest gainers (in percentage).............PG.MI

20 biggest losers (in percentage)..............PL.MI

FTSE IT allshare index .FTITLMS

FTSE Mib index........ .FTMIB

FTSE Allstars index... .FTSTAR

FTSE Mid Cap index.... .FTITMC

Stories on Italy...... IT-LEN

For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in

brackets:

European Equities speed guide...................EUR/EQUITY

FTSEurofirst 300 index...............................FTEU3

DJ STOXX index.......................................STOXX

Top 10 STOXX sectors............................PGL.STOXXS

Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors.......................PGL.STOXXES

Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors....................PGL.FTEU3S

Top 25 European pct gainers........................PG.PEUR

Top 25 European pct losers.........................PL.PEUR

Main stock markets:

Dow Jones................DJI Wall Street report ......N

Nikkei 225..............N225 Tokyo report.............T

FTSE 100................FTSE London report............L

Xetra DAX..............GDAXI Frankfurt market stories.F

CAC-40..................FCHI Paris market stories....PA

World Indices.....................................0#.INDEX

Reuters survey of world bourse outlook.........EQUITYPOLL1

Western European IPO diary..........................WEUIPO

European Asset Allocation........................EUR/ASSET

Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............TOP/EQE

Main currency report:...............................FRX/

LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Britain's business minister Jonathan Reynolds said he will meet Jaguar Land Rover's CEO this week to discuss job cuts at the country's biggest carmaker, amid reports it is looking to shed 4,000 roles.

Reynolds told the BBC on Sunday that while he wanted to mitigate job losses, the business environment for carmakers was "challenging" in the UK and across Europe.

"If this is about making sure over time that workforce is right to make the business as competitive as possible, that's the conversation we need to have," Reynolds said on Sunday.

JLR, which employs about 30,000 people in Britain and whose largest plant is in Solihull, West Midlands, is owned by India's Tata Motors TAMO.NS. It said in a statement it needed to make £1.7 billion of savings over the next two years and as such it would be opening a voluntary redundancy programme.

TARIFFS AND CHINESE IMPORTS

"We need to adapt to evolving global market conditions," a JLR spokesperson said.

The job cuts would be a setback for Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office six weeks ago, and has repeatedly said he wants to "reindustrialise" Britain.

JLR, which also has major sites in central and northern England, has been affected by the fallout from tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, as the U.S. is an important market for its luxury Range Rover and Defender models, while competition from Chinese models such as the Jaecoo 7 — ranked third among Britain's top-selling cars — is also hitting sales.

The Times newspaper said 4,000 roles at JLR would be cut over two years through a redundancy programme due to be announced on Monday.

Earlier in September, German carmaker Volkswagen's VOWG_p.DE supervisory board approved a transformation plan that will include cutting 50,000 jobs in its attempt to counter tariffs and Chinese competition.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by David Holmes)

(([email protected]; +44 20 7542 1109; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

Sept 3 (Reuters) - Autoline Industries Ltd AUIN.NS:

• AUTOLINE INDUSTRIES LTD - SECURES ORDER WORTH 1 BILLION RUPEES FROM TATA MOTORS PASSENGER VEHICLES

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: AUIN.NS

(([email protected];;))

The following factors could affect Italian markets on Wednesday.

Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).

DEBT

Italy posted a state sector budget deficit of €12.3 billion ($14.25 billion) in August compared to a shortfall of €204 million in the same month last year, the Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday.

COMPANIES

(*) LOTTOMATICA LTMC.MI

The Italian betting firm will take over Spain's Cirsa CIRSA.MC to create a global gaming player whose top shareholder will be U.S. private equity firm Blackstone BX.N, the two companies said on Wednesday.

(*) SNAM SRG.MI

Italian firms F2i, Edison EDNn.MI and Retina Biometano have been admitted to the final stage of the sale process for Bioenerys, the biomethane unit of the Italian gas grid operator, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Wednesday. Retina Biometano is reportedly interested in acquiring the whole of Bioenerys, while F2i and Edison are interested in different units of the company, Il Sole added.

(*) ENEL ENEI.MI

Three Indian companies - Purvah Green Power, Inox Clean Energy and Hexa Climate Solutions - have submitted binding bids to acquire 100% of Enel Green Power India, Enel's Indian renewable energy unit, MF daily reported on Wednesday, citing local sources.

Purvah Green Power is a unit of Indian power utility CESC CESC.NS.

(*) AVIO AVI.MI

Berenberg on Wednesday initiated coverage of the rocket maker with a 'hold' rating and a target price of €33.

INTESA SANPAOLO ISP.MI, MONTE DEI PASCHI BMPS.MI

Italy's largest bank does not expect its buyout offer for Monte dei Paschi di Siena to be hampered by defence bids mounted by its takeover target or by clarifications sought by the markets watchdog, a person close to the matter said on Tuesday.

IVECO IVG.MI

The truck-maker said on Tuesday that all prior regulatory approvals had been obtained in connection with the offer launched for it by India's Tata Motors.

STELLANTIS STLAM.MI

The Franco-Italian automaker's new car sales in Italy rose 6.1% in August, the Italian transport ministry reported on Tuesday, outperforming a 3.15% increase in overall Italian car registrations during the month.

BPER BANCA EMII.MI

The lender said on Tuesday it would launch on Sept 2 its share buyback programme and the early termination of the Total Return Swap (TRS) on BPER shares. As part of the programme, BPER ordinary shares may be purchased not exceeding 3% of its share capital, for a maximum total value of €750 million.

LEONARDO LDOF.MI

The Italian defence company on Tuesday named Stefano Villanti as managing director of its helicopters division.

The list of companies comprising Italy's blue chip FTSE MIB stock index is due to be updated on Wednesday.

For Italian market data and news, click on codes in

brackets:

20 biggest gainers (in percentage).............PG.MI

20 biggest losers (in percentage)..............PL.MI

FTSE IT allshare index .FTITLMS

FTSE Mib index........ .FTMIB

FTSE Allstars index... .FTSTAR

FTSE Mid Cap index.... .FTITMC

Stories on Italy...... IT-LEN

For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in

brackets:

European Equities speed guide...................EUR/EQUITY

FTSEurofirst 300 index...............................FTEU3

DJ STOXX index.......................................STOXX

Top 10 STOXX sectors............................PGL.STOXXS

Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors.......................PGL.STOXXES

Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors....................PGL.FTEU3S

Top 25 European pct gainers........................PG.PEUR

Top 25 European pct losers.........................PL.PEUR

Main stock markets:

Dow Jones................DJI Wall Street report ......N

Nikkei 225..............N225 Tokyo report.............T

FTSE 100................FTSE London report............L

Xetra DAX..............GDAXI Frankfurt market stories.F

CAC-40..................FCHI Paris market stories....PA

World Indices.....................................0#.INDEX

Reuters survey of world bourse outlook.........EQUITYPOLL1

Western European IPO diary..........................WEUIPO

European Asset Allocation........................EUR/ASSET

Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............TOP/EQE

Main currency report:...............................FRX/

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles scheduled a physical group meeting with analysts and institutional investors for September 2, 2026 at 4 p.m. IST. Participants included Helios Capital Management, Old Bridge Capital Management and a range of domestic mutual funds, pension funds and asset managers. Following the 2025 demerger, the company housed Tata’s India passenger-vehicle business and Jaguar Land Rover. Its latest reported quarter showed consolidated revenue of ₹95,799 crore and profit after tax of ₹859 crore, with JLR accounting for roughly 80% of revenue.

Powered by Tijori

Aug 25 (Reuters) - Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd TAMO.NS:

• TATA COMMUNICATIONS - PARTNERS WITH TATA MOTORS PASSENGER VEHICLES FOR SOFTWARE-DEFINED VEHICLE DEPLOYMENT

Source text: ID:nnAZN4TG4PW

Further company coverage: TAMO.NS

(([email protected];))

Aug 24 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

- Britain has agreed to give Ukraine classified blueprints for a long-range missile that can strike deep behind enemy lines ahead of Andy Burnham's first visit to the country since becoming prime minister.

- A further £37 million ($50.51 million) has been injected into the troubled Bank of London amid warnings from the loss-making fintech about its future.

The Guardian

- Russia has withdrawn its ambassador to the UK, with Andrey Kelin leaving last month after seven years in the diplomatic post.

- Train operator CrossCountry cancelled almost all of its train services in Britain on Sunday after a power cut in Birmingham hit its control centre.

The Telegraph

- Jaguar Land Rover has delayed the rollout of its all-electric Defender model as the carmaker embarks on a cost-cutting drive.

Sky News

- Energy solutions provider Aggreko intends to file a registration statement for an initial public offering with American regulators in the coming days.

($1 = 0.7325 pounds)

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)

(([email protected]))

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd TAMO.NS:

• COMPOUNDING ORDER RECEIVED FROM THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

• COMPOUNDING AMOUNT OF 200,000 RUPEES FOR NON-COMPLIANCE UNDER FOREX MANAGEMENT RULES

Further company coverage: TAMO.NS

(([email protected];;))

Aug 19 (Reuters) - Autoline Industries Ltd AUIN.NS:

• SECURES 1.10 BILLION RUPEES ORDER FROM TATA MOTORS PASSENGER VEHICLES

• ORDER FROM TATA MOTORS PASSENGER VEHICLES FOR HATCHBACK COMPONENTS

Source text: ID:nBSE2JrG2V

Further company coverage: AUIN.NS

(([email protected];;))

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Shares of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles TAMO.NS fell 4.8% to 332.1 rupees on Friday after the company's luxury unit, Jaguar Land Rover, reported lower quarterly volumes and high margin pressure, driving an 80% drop in quarterly net profit and weighing on investor sentiment.

(Reporting by Saikeerthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

(([email protected]; (+91) 8296756080))

Aug 13 (Reuters) -

• INDIA'S TATA TRUSTS: TRUSTEES OF DORABJI TATA TRUST PASSED RESOLUTION TO INITIATE SETTING UP SELECTION COMMITTEE FOR RECOMMENDING A PERSON FOR APPOINTMENT AS NEW CHAIR

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: TAMO.NS

(([email protected];))

Recasts lede, changes throughout

Aug 12 (Reuters) - India's Tata Motors TATM.NS on Wednesday said it expects demand to stay firm in the coming quarters, supported by higher-payload trucks, electric vehicles and a strong government order book, as it plans price hikes and cost cuts to counter rising commodity-related expenses.

Rising aluminium and steel prices, exacerbated by the Middle East crisis, have pressured vehicle makers to raise prices to offset higher input costs. Tata Motors has increased prices of its vehicles twice since April. The company said it expects to mitigate ongoing commodity inflation through pricing actions and cost-control measures, while easing supply constraints through targeted de-bottlenecking initiatives in the second quarter.

For the first quarter through June, it reported a profit of 15.28 billion rupees ($160.3 million), compared with 14.11 billion rupees a year earlier.

Total expenses jumped 23.6% to 176.68 billion rupees, compressing the company's core profitability margin by 60 basis points to 11.7%.

Still, demand for Tata Motors' commercial vehicles remained resilient during the quarter, aided by higher freight availability, infrastructure projects, and growth in e-commerce led logistics.

Revenue from operations rose 23.3% to 193.3 billion rupees in the three months ended June 30, the company said.

Domestic volumes rose 26% and exports rose 35% from a year earlier, with Tata Motors looking to generate demand in more international markets as the Middle East crisis disrupts trade flows, while it expects to ramp up deliveries under a large commercial vehicle order in Indonesia.

Tata Motors results came hours after group holding company Tata Sons' Chairman N. Chandrasekaran said that he will not seek reappointment at the end of his term amid concerns over insufficient support from the holding company's board.

($1 = 95.3300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Saikeerthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Ronojoy Mazumdar)

(([email protected];))

Rewrites throughout with comments from FADA's vice president

By Kashish Tandon and Abhinav Parmar

Aug 6 (Reuters) - Consumer uncertainty over India's transition to E20 petrol is pushing some buyers toward vehicles powered by alternative fuels, a senior industry official said on Thursday.

Sales of alternative-fuel passenger vehicles, including CNG, hybrid and electric models, came within "striking distance" of petrol models in July, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).

These vehicles accounted for 40.59% of total sales in July, just 1.09 percentage points behind petrol-powered vehicles at 41.68%.

India's petroleum and road transport ministries did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

The shift comes amid concerns surrounding India's nationwide rollout of E20 petrol, which contains 20% ethanol, a plant-derived alcohol mixed into petrol to reduce dependence on imported crude oil. The policy replaced the earlier E10 variant.

The transition has drawn criticism from some consumers, who say the higher ethanol blend affects fuel efficiency and vehicle performance, particularly in older vehicles not designed for E20 fuel.

"What we are seeing is more consumer queries than complaints," Sai Giridhar, vice president of FADA, told Reuters, adding that dealers have not received a single complaint linking vehicle issues to E20 fuel despite servicing thousands of models every month.

Petrol-powered share of passenger vehicle sales fell to about 41% from 47.6% a year earlier, while diesel's share remained largely unchanged at about 18%, Giridhar said.

As petrol's share declined, CNG and electric vehicles gained ground. CNG's share rose to about 24% from 21% a year earlier, while EVs accounted for nearly 8% of sales, up from about 5%, he added.

Giridhar said dealer surveys suggest some consumers are delaying purchases of petrol vehicles or exploring alternative-fuel options because of concerns around E20, fuel economy and vehicle compatibility.

He attributed much of the anxiety to misinformation and a lack of awareness, saying automakers and dealers were initially unprepared for the volume of customer queries surrounding the fuel transition.

FADA said while passenger vehicles enter August with healthy pipelines and fresh launches, clearer communication around the E20 rollout could help convert hesitant buyers.

Overall passenger vehicle retail sales rose 19.1% year-on-year to 416,555 units in July, helped by tax-cut-led demand and new model launches, FADA added.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected]; 8800437922;))