Tata Motors ends Maruti's 7-year run as India's most valuable auto firm

Tata Motors is back as India’s most valuable automaker, a title it lost to Maruti Suzuki in 2016.  
The company’s shares climbed 5% on Tuesday, valuing the firm at nearly $38 billion. 

The company recorded a fourth straight quarter of profits in November, following a run of losses stretching back to the start of 2021. Tata Motors' combined market capitalisation was 3.146 lakh crore against Maruti Suzuki’s Rs 3.13 lakh crore.

Consumers have been increasingly preferring SUVs over smaller hatchbacks, and that helped Tata Motors capture share in the passenger vehicles market with its vast array of options. 

It also sells the most electric cars in the country, while Maruti is yet to start producing them.

“Maruti’s conservative approach is making them suffer, they have not been changing with the times,” said Kranthi Bathini, a strategist at WealthMills Securities, told Bloomberg. “Consumer behaviour has changed, and Tata was able to capitalize on that.”

Brokerages such as Morgan Stanley and Motilal Oswal had given positive ratings to the stock citing the strong sales mix with Range Rover, Ranger Rover Sport and Defender accounting for 62 percent of the wholesale.

Tata Motors gained over 90% in the past 12 months, outperforming the broader market with main S&P BSE Sensex Index rising 21% during the period.