Tata Motors' commercial vehicle business made a strong debut on the stock exchanges on Wednesday. What had begun as Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company or TELCO back in 1945 will now chart its independent growth story as the Tatas look to sharpen their focus on the country's largest truck and bus maker.
The Tata Motors board had approved the demerger of its passenger (PV) vehicle and commercial vehicle (CV) business last year. The demerger became effective on October 1, 2025, and the Tata Motors PV business started trading last month. This business will consist of its domestic PV business, its luxury Jaguar and Land Rover unit, as well as the electric vehicle business.
Tata Motors will hold the entire truck and business in India and abroad. The company listed at Rs 330.25 on the BSE and Rs 335 on the NSE, a considerable premium to its discovered price of Rs 260.75.
Tata Motors PV was trading at Rs 405.10 on the BSE.
The move to demerge the business gives the Tata Group a deeper focus on the two individual companies at a time when the automotive industry is going through a lot of tech and energy transition.
"Tata Motors commercial vehicles was always profitable, and Tata Motors passenger cars was not so. Cash flows were coming from commercial vehicles and were subsumed in the capital expenditure of Tata Motors passenger vehicles. So we had to make sure that both companies were fit and directionally both had to be strong," explained N. Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Motors and Tata Sons.
With both the businesses having different platforms, business, customers and dealer partners, he says they had to pursue different ambitions, and is confident they have two strong independent companies now.
"Tata Motors has a fantastic business in heavy commercial vehicles and light commercial vehicles. In fact, they introduced the small commercial vehicles with the Ace. But they have got work to do more," noted Chandrasekaran.
New tech, EVs, and hydrogen trucks
Tata Motors is now working on new technologies, including electrification, hydrogen trucks and new energy buses, he said.
While the company is continuing to take steps to strengthen its domestic market leadership, it also intends to scale up its global presence, where it's already present in many countries.
"Internationally, we are scaling with deeper partnerships and expanding footprints across Africa, the Middle East and Asia," said Girish Wagh, the MD and CEO of Tata Motors CV business.
Tata Motors acquired Italian truck and bus maker Iveco for 3.8 billion euro earlier this year. It was the largest acquisition done by Tata Motors since it acquired Jaguar Land Rover back in 2008.
"The acquisition of Iveco is a bold step that positions us amongst the top four global players in the above 6 tonne segment. It brings scale, synergy and access to new edge technology. It signals our intent to lead, not just in India, but on the world stage," stressed Wagh.
Following the GST cuts that were announced recently, Wagh expects a pickup in consumption to drive demand for trucks, and therefore, he is quite optimistic about the growth in the second half of this year.
With the PV and CV business now charting their independent journeys, the two can now grow with more agility, and there can be sharper capital allocation from tbd Tatas.
"The listing gives investors a focused bet on India’s commercial vehicle upcycle — a steady, cash-rich, value-driven play backed by improving policy and economic tailwinds," said Jahol Prajapati, research analyst at Samco Securities.
With freight activity improving, commodity costs easing, and the GST rate cut, demand for commercial vehicles is expected to rise sharply, said Prajapati. Fleet replacement and new demand from construction and logistics players will add further momentum, he added.
