Tata Motors Ltd’s share price up, non-executive Vice Chairman Ravi Kant to retire, the company faces hard time in India

The largest auto manufacturer by revenue in India – Tata Motors Ltd. made an official statement that its non-executive vice chairman Mr. Ravi Kant has retired. The decision of Mr. Kant to step down comes in line with the policy of the auto maker, which requires its non-executive directors to retire once they turn 70.

Mr. Kant, who is leaving Tata Motors has occupied the position of a managing director four years – from July 2005 to June 2009. Then he became a non-executive vice chairman. A spokeswoman of Tata Motors explained that Mr. Kant was not involved in the day-to-day management of the company while being a non-executive director.

The Chairman of Tata Motors – Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry said in the companys statement, which was cited by the Economic Times: “On behalf of the board and Tata Motors I would like to thank Ravi for his valuable contribution in the growth and development of the company. I wish him all the best for the future.”

Despite the fact the departure of Mr. Kant follows the companys policy, it leaves a big vacancy at the company, which has been facing some hard time in India. Last week, the company posted its results for the fourth financial quarter ended March 31st that missed the median analysts forecast.

Tata Motors Ltd. is doing relatively well overseas due to the strong performance of its Jaguar Land Rover division, but at the same time its business in India struggles. According to the companys statement, its net income fell to 39.2 billion rupees (664 million dollars) over the last three months of the fiscal year. This result was lower than the estimate of 46.1 billion rupees projected by analysts.

Tata Motors Ltd was 0.04% up to close at 420.90 Indian rupees per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of +34.13%. According to the information published on the Financial Times, 52 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Tata Motors Ltd have a median target of 480.00, with a high estimate of 543.00 and a low estimate of 245.00. The median estimate represents a 14.08% increase from the last price of 420.75.