Mumbai: Tata Motors Ltd, India’s largest automobile maker by revenue, on Friday reported a 49% drop in first-quarter net profit as sales at its UK luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Automotive Plc declined as demand weakened in China, its largest market.

Net profit fell to Rs.2,769 crore in the three months to June from Rs.5,398 crore in the year-ago quarter. Net sales declined 6.2% to Rs.61,020 crore from Rs.64,683 crore in the same quarter last year.

Tata Motors-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is planning to set up a new plant to make about 200,000 cars annually in eastern Europe and is zeroing in on Poland.

According to The Sunday Times, JLR executives have been weighing up bids from Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Turkey for the factory, which will make about 200,000 cars a year.

Seven Indian companies, including Reliance Industries and Tata Motors, are among the world’s 500 largest companies, according to a list compiled by Fortune.

The Indian companies on the 2015 Fortune Global 500 list are Indian Oil ranked 119 on the list, with revenues of about USD 74 billion, Reliance Industries (158) with revenues of USD 62 billion, Tata Motors with revenues of USD 42 billion (254), State Bank of India with revenues of USD 42 billion (260), Bharat Petroleum with revenues of USD 40 billion (280), Hindustan Petroleum with revenues of USD 35 billion (327) and Oil and Natural Gas with revenues of USD 26 billion (449).

On the expectations that the implementation of the 7th pay commission would give a boost to sale of passenger cars, shares of Maruti Suzuki rose to a record high of Rs 4,191 on Thursday, after foreign brokerage Credit Suisse, on Wenesday, increased the target price by 17% to Rs 5,100. Shares of Maruti Suzuki, on Friday opened lower at Rs 4,174.

The rise in the share price of Maruti Suzuki took its market capitalisation to a level higher than that of competitor Tata Motors.

After witnessing a pull in customer demand with the launch of the Zest, Bolt and Nano, India’s biggest automobile maker, Tata Motors, is set to make ‘strong’ investments in new products and technologies.

In his annual address as the chairman, Cyrus Mistry said, “Tata Motors’ strategy hinges on leveraging the long-term growth opportunity in the Indian automobile industry. India is forecast to witness multi-fold increase in motorisation. The company is strongly investing in product and technologies that would make it future ready and would also fuel international growth.”

Tata Motors, India's fifth largest car maker, is ready to experiment with new products, which it says would address white spaces in the passenger vehicle segment and help it reclaim lost market share.

The company has lined up a series of new products in the hatchback, sedan and sport utility vehicle segment, in line with its promise of launching at least two new products every year.

Markets have recovered from the lower levels and are trading marginally positive led by pharma shares. However, the upside is capped due to selling among index heavyweights like Tata Motors, RIL and HDFC.

At 10:40AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 11 points at 27,972 and the 50-share Nifty was up 2 points at 8,462.

Tata Motors has bagged an order for supplying around 1,200 high-mobility 6X6 multi-axle trucks from the Indian Army - the single largest order awarded to an Indian private original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in land systems under the DPP by the Indian army. The order for 6X6 vehicles is for ‘material handling cranes’ for the loading-unloading and transportation of ammunition pallets, spares and other operational equipment.

Developed indigenously, the Tata 6X6 high mobility all-terrain all-wheel drive vehicle, has completed a total trial duration of 25 months, demonstrating maximum performance in the most demanding conditions.

The defence division of Tata Motors, the country's largest automobile maker, is eyeing Rs 60,000 crore of contracts to build combat vehicles. There is a silent race between companies to have the largest piece of the $100-billion worth of defence acquisitions laid out by the government over the next decade from local companies.

The company has bagged a Rs 914-crore contract to supply 1,239 indigenously developed high mobility multi-axle vehicles, the single largest order awarded by the army to an Indian private original equipment manufacturer in land systems under the Defence Procurement Policy.

Tata Motors today said it has bagged an order for supplying 1,200 multi-axle trucks to the Indian Army.

It is the single largest order awarded to an Indian company in land systems by the Indian army and comprises 1,200 units of high-mobility 6X6 multi-axle trucks, Tata Motors said in a statement.

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