Nearly 5,800 Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicles are believed to have been damaged in the series of explosions that recently rocked a container storage station at Tianjin Port in China. The vehicles, recently shipped to China, were stored at various locations in Tianjin.
“As access to facilities near the site of the explosion remains restricted and we believe many of these vehicles may have been damaged, we are currently unable to quantify the numbers of units affected,” Tata Motors said in a statement.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and work to minimise the impact on our customers and business,” it said.
According to international media reports, the explosions killed dozens of people and injured hundreds as dangerous chemicals stored in warehouses caught fire.
“JLR wishes to express its most profound condolences to the families and friends of those who lost loved ones in the explosions. Our thoughts are with them as well as with all those who were injured in this tragic event,” Tata Motors said.
Tianjin Port is one of the three major locations in China through which JLR vehicles are imported.
For Tata Motors, which had acquired the British luxury car manufacturer JLR in 2008, slowing demand from the Chinese market has impacted its consolidated earnings. The automobile company had posted a 48 per cent decline in net profit to ₹2,788 crore during the first quarter ended June 2015.
JLR’s revenue was down 9.64 per cent to ₹49,178.5 crore during the first quarter, compared with ₹54,425.97 crore in the year-ago period. Tata Motors said JLR’s financial performance was hurt by softer sales in China.
On Friday, Tata Motors shares closed down 2.73 per cent at ₹332.75, after hitting a 52-week low during intra-day trade.