N Chandrasekaran’s successor at Tata Sons will inherit a Tata Motors that is operationally far stronger than the one he took charge of in 2017, but also one facing a new set of challenges. The group has completed the demerger of the commercial vehicle business, while the passenger vehicle entity now has to balance a strong India franchise with the recovery of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).
The commercial vehicle business is arguably the cleaner part of the portfolio. Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles reported FY26 revenue of Rs 77,400 crore, Ebitda of Rs 10,200 crore and free cash flow of Rs 9,200 crore, with domestic market share at 35.7%. In Q1 FY27, it reported consolidated revenue of Rs 20,667 crore, Ebitda of Rs 2,300 crore and net profit of Rs 2,556 crore, with revenue and Ebitda rising 19% and 10%, respectively, while profit rose 83%, aided partly by a mark-to-market gain on Tata Capital investments.
The business has also maintained its leadership while improving profitability, leaving the next Tata Sons chairman to oversee whether the newly separated company can sustain this momentum and complete the proposed acquisition of Iveco.
The bigger challenge will be Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, where the India business has emerged as a significant growth engine but JLR remains the key swing factor. The India passenger vehicle business recorded its highest-ever annual sales of more than 640,000 units in FY26, growing 15% and becoming the number two player in the second half. JLR, however, faced tariffs, weak China demand and the impact of a cyber incident, with FY26 revenue falling 20.9% to £22.9 billion.
The successor will therefore inherit a company with several large bets still to deliver. JLR is preparing for new Range Rover electric, EMA-based products and the new Jaguar line-up, while the India business is relying on new launches and a continued push into electric vehicles to sustain growth. The task will be to ensure that the investments required for this transition do not dilute the financial discipline that has helped Tata Motors improve cash generation and returns.
In that sense, Chandrasekaran’s successor will inherit less of a turnaround story and more of an execution challenge: making the new Tata Motors structure work, sustaining the momentum in India and steering JLR back to consistent profitability