Naveen Kulkarni, CIO, Axis Securities, says “we will have to wait and watch what exactly the auto companies report in terms of their overall numbers. But as far as Maruti is concerned, we were expecting a good set of numbers but these numbers definitely look better than what we were anticipating.”
We were expecting good numbers from Maruti on the back of a richer product mix, volume push and so on but is 13% margin something that you were working with? Were you expecting a similar number on that front?
No. We were definitely expecting a margin which was lower than what they have reported. Of course, we will have to look at whether there are any one-offs or if there is any deferment of marketing expenses and things like that but 13% EBITDA margin is definitely above our expectations.
But do you see a similar situation for the rest of the auto OEMs because we will watch out for more management commentary from Maruti Suzuki, especially how they are looking at demand but do you believe Tata Motors and M&M can also see such performance going ahead?
Again, it will vary from one company to another company. M&M has a completely different mix of products. M&M, of course, has a very large tractor portfolio and farm equipment portfolio, so that has a meaningful impact on revenues.
So, we will have to wait and watch what exactly they report in terms of their overall numbers. But as far as Maruti is concerned, we were expecting a good set of numbers but these numbers definitely look